UBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


nil  2  A  2003 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/exodusorsecondbo21lang 


LIST  or  CONTEIBUTOES  TO  THE  ANGLO-AIIEEICAN  EDITION. 
Pro£  PHILIP  SCHAFF,  D.D.,  General  Editor.  New  York. 

Prof  CHARLES  A     AIKEN.  D  D Princeton    N    I 

Rev.  S    R    AS8URY,   MA Moore.lown"  N  l' 

Prof.  GEO    BLISS.  D  D    Uoland    Pa 

Prof  CHAS.  A    BRIGGS '. New  York' 

Prof  JOHN  A.  BROADUS.  DD Greenville    S  c' 

Rev.  f    W   CHAMBERS.  D  D     '     "  New'vorle' 

Rev.  THOMAS  C.  CONANT,  D  D ....'■■  Brooklyn    Ll' 

Rev    E    R    CRAVEN.  D  D  Newark'N    I 

Chancellor  HOWARD  CROSBY.  D.D  New  York 

Prof  GEO    E    DAY.  D  D      New  Haven.  Conn.' 

Prof  CHAS_.   ELLIOTT^  D  D     Chicago.  111! 

""'   '      •■"'•"-""  Cincinnati,  O. 

Claicow,  Scotland 

Rev    WILLIAM  FINDLAY    ..    ..  Larkhall    Scotland 

Prof   lOHN   FOkSYTH.   DD West  Point    N    v' 

Prof  VreD    G\RDINER.  DO   M.ddletown.  Conn. 

Rev.  A    GOSMAN.DD     Lawrenceville.  N.  J. 

Prof  W    H     GREEN.  D  D    Princeton    n1 

Prof   H    B     HACKETT.  D  D Roche. ter    NY 

Rev    E    HARWOOD.  DD      New  HavenConn. 

Prof  W    H     HORNBLOWER.  D.D Alleehany.  Pa 

Prof.   1    F     HURST.  DD     ,. Madi.onfN.J. 

M    W   JACOBUS.  D  D   Alleghanv.  Pi. 

locheslei 
AlleEha 

Jev.  JOHN   LILLIK.    DD Kineilon.  N    Y. 

>ror]    FRED    McCURDY Pr.Sceton  N  J. 

Prof  C.  M    MEAD.  M  A   AndoverMasa 

Rev  J    ISIDOR   MOMBERT.  DD Dreaden.  Germany" 

Ml..  EVELINE   MOORE Newark    N    l' 

Prof   MURPHY    D  D     ......   Belf.at.  Iiiland! 

Prof   HOWARD  OSGOOD,  DD Roche.tcr    N    Y 

Prof    I    PACKARD.  D  D     Alexandria,  Va! 

Prof  b    W    POOH.  D  D       San  Franci.co   Cal 

Prof   M    B    RIDDLE.  D  D Hartford,  Conn 

Prof  CH    F    SCHAEFFER.  DD Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Prof   W    O    T.   SHEDD.  D  D New  York 

Rev    W    SHELDON,  M  A   Princeton    N    I 

Rev.  C   C    STARBIICK    Kenyon  College,  Ky. 

Prof   P    H    STEENSTRA    Lair.bridce    Ma.a 

Prof    IAS    STRONG.  DD M.di.on    N    I 

Prof  W    G    SUMNER    New  Haven    Conn 

Prof   TAYLER    LEWIS.  LL.D Schenectady    N    Y 

Prof  C.  H    TOY,  D  D Greenvilie,  S.  C 

Rev   E    A     WASHBURN,  DD New  York 

Prof.  WILLIAM  WELLS  Scheneclody    N    Y 

Rev    C    P    WING.  D  D   Carll.le,  Pa. 

Prof  JOHN  H    WOODS  Jackaonville.  III. 

Rev.  £   D.  YEOMANS,  DD Oranje,  N  j. 


LIST  OF  CONTEIBUTOES  TO  TEE  GESMAN  EDITION. 
Prof.  JOHN  P.  LANGE,  D.D.,  General  Editor.  Bonn. 

Prof.  C.  A.  AUBERLEN.  DD  (deceated) Baate.  Prof.  OOTTL  VICTOR  LECHLER.  D  D.Lelpilf. 

Rev.  KARLCW.F.BAEHR.  DD. (dec.  ..Carl. ruhe  Prof.CARL   BERN    MOLL.  D  D K.>ni(:.berg. 

Gen.Supt.    K  ARL  BR  AUNE.  DD  . .    .   Altenburg.  Rev.  C.  W.  E.  NAEGELSBACH.  PH.D.  .Bayreuth. 

Gen.  Supt.  CHR.FR.  D.  ERDMANN.D.D.Bre.lau.  Prof.  J.J.  VAN  OOSTERZEE.  DD Utrecht. 

Rev.  F    R.  FAY  Crefeld.  Prof.  C.  r   R  IGGENBACH.  DD   Ba.le. 

Rev.  G.  F   C.  FRONMUELLER,  PH.D.Kemnath.  Prof.  OtTO  SCHMOLLER.  PH.  D Urach. 

Rev.  KARLCEROK.  D  D Stuttgart.  Rev.  FR    WILH.  I    SCHROEDER,  D  D.  Elberfeld. 

Rev.CHRIS.    FR.  KLING,  D  D.  (Jcc,  ...Marbach.        Pr.,f.  OTTO  ZOECKLER.  D.D Grc.fswald. 


CorntioBT  ItiTO.    Bt   Scbibkeii,  AimsTBOiro  li  Co. 


A 

COMMENTARY 


HOLY  SCRIPTURES 

CRITICAL,  DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETICAL, 

WITH  SPECIAL  EEFERENCE  TO  MINISTERS  AND  STUDENTS. 


JOHN  PETER  LANGE,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR   OF    THEOLOGr    IN    THE    CNITEBSITT   OP   BOSS, 

ASSISTED  BY  A  NUMBER  OF  EMINENT  EUROPEAN  DIVINES. 


TRANSLATED,  ENLARGED,  AND  EDITED 

BY 

PHILIP  SCHAFF,  D.D. 

PROFESSOR  OP  SACRED  LITERATURE  IN  THE  nSIOS  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINART,  NEW  YORK. 

IN  CONNECTION  WITH  AMERICAN  AND    ENGLISH    SCHOLARS   OF  VARIOUS 
DENOMINATIONS. 


VOLUME  II.  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT: 

EXODUS  AND  LEVITICUS. 


NEW    YORK: 
SCEIBNER,  ARJISTRONG  &  CO. 


EXODUS; 


OE. 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  MOSES. 


JOIIX  PETER  LANGE,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR     OF     TUEOLOGY     IN     THE     UNIVERSITY     OF     BONN. 


TRANSLATED    BY 

CHARLES  M.  MEAD,  PH.D., 

PROFESSOR  OP  THE  HEBREW  LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY  AT  ANDOVER,   MASS. 


NEW    YORK: 
SCRIUNKR,  ARMSTRONG    &    CO. 


COPYRIGHT  1876. 


GrAJIT,    FaTRES   &    RODGEBS, 

Printers  and  Stereottpzbs, 
Philadelphia. 


PREFACE  BY  THE  GENERAL  EDITOR. 


Dr.  Laxge's  Commentary  on  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers  was  not  published  till  1874. 
Dr.  Schboeder's  Deuteronomy  was  issued  in  1868. 

The  two  corresponding  English  volumes  were  begun  several  years  ago.  The  present  volume 
contains : — 

1.  A  general  and  special  Introduetion  to  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers.  It  unfolds  Dr. 
Lakoe's  original  and  ingenious  view  of  the  organic  unity  and  trilogy  of  the  three  Middle  Books 
of  the  Pentateuch  and  their  typical  import.  The  translation  is  by  Kev.  Howard  Osgood,  D.  D., 
Professor  in  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

2.  The  Commentary  on  Exodus  by  Dr.  Lange,  translated,  with  many  additions,  by  Re-.  C.  M. 
Mead,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  Mass.  The  Textual  and  Gram- 
matical notes,  some  of  which  are  very  elaborate  {e.g.,  pp.  72-75),  belong  wholly  to  the  American 
Ivlition,  there  being  no  corresponding  part  in  the  German  of  Lange.  The  "Doctrinal"  and 
"  Ilomiletical,"  which  in  the  German  edition  are  put  together  at  the  end  of  Numbers,  have  been 
appended  to  the  Commentary  proper. 

3.  The  Commentary  on  Levilicus  by  Rev.  Frederic  Gardiner,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  Berke- 
ley Divinity  School,  Middletown,  Conn.  This  part  differs  in  one  respect  from  most  of  the  series. 
It  was  already  far  advanced  before  the  commentary  of  Lange  appeared,  and  it  then  seemed  best 
to  complete  it  on  the  plan  begun,  incorporating  into  it  a-s  much  as  possible  of  the  German  work 
of  Lasoe.  For  the  general  structure  and  arrangement  of  this  commentary,  therefore,  Dr.  Gardi- 
ner is  responsible;  but  the  greater  part  of  Laxoe,  including  every  thing  of  iniporUince,  and  espe- 
cially every  thing  in  which  there  is  any  difference  of  opinion,  has  been  translated  and  included  in 
the  work.  Nearly  the  whole  of  Lange's  "  Ilomiletical,"  and  a  large  part  of  his  "  Doctrinal,"  have 
been  distributed  to  the  several  chapters  to  which  they  pertain.  Every  thing  from  Lasoe  is  care- 
fully indicated  by  his  name  and  by  quotation  marks;  all  matter  not  so  indicated  is  by  the  trans- 
lator, and  is  not  marked  by  his  initials,  except  in  the  cxse  of  remarks  introduced  into  the  midst 
of  quotations  from  Lange.  A  large  part  of  the  translation  was  prepared  by  Rev.  Henry  Fergu- 
son, of  Exeter,  N.  H. 

The  Commentary  on  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy  will  appear  in  a  separate  volume  early  in  au- 
tumn.   The  remaining  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  division  are  also  fast  approaching  completion. 

PHILIP  SCHAFF. 

Usios  Theoi-  Seminary.  Xr.w  Yoek,  \ 
April  2S(A,  1876.  i 


INTRODUCTION 


111  IIIIK  MIS  flF  1  PlMl 


JOHN  PETER  LANGE,  D.D., 


PROFESSOR   OF    THEOLOGY     IN     THE     UNIVERSITY    OF     BONN. 


TRANSLATED    BY 

HOWARD  OSGOOD,  D.D- 


ROCHESTER.    N.    Y. 


NEW    YORK: 
SCRIBNER,   ARMSTIIONQ    &    CO. 


THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS  OF  THE  PEXTATEUCH. 


A.   GENERAL  INTRODUCTION 

OF    THE  THEEE   MIDDLE   BOOKS   OF    THE    LAW   COXSIDEEED 
AS  A  WHOLE. 


I  1.   THE  RELATION  OF  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS  OF  THE  PEXTATErCH  TO  THE 
WHOLE  PENTATEUCH. 

While  the  Pentateuch  describes  the  Law  of  the  Lord  in  its  whole  compass  as  the 
symbolical,  typical,  fundamental  law  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  its  universal  basis  stated 
in  Genesis,  and  its  uuiversal  purpose  in  Deuteronomy,  it  appears  to  be  the  unique 
character  of  the  three  middle  books  to  set  forth  this  law  as  the  law  of  Israel  strictly 
considered.  They  are  the  fixed,  written,  literal  law  of  God  for  this  people  his- 
torically bounded  and  defined.  But  since  this  people  should  not  live  egotistically  for 
itself,  but  be  a  blessing  of  the  nations,  and  also  a  type  of  the  nations  to  bo  brought 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  its  law  is  not  merely  a  law  for  the  Israelites.  Throughout 
it  has  a  typical  meaning  as  far  as  its  ordinances  and  shadows  indicate  the  principles  of 
spiritual  life  and  the  divine  regulations  for  all  the  nations  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  for  all 
Christian  nations.  Israel  is  the  type  of  Christian  nationalities.  Israel's  law  is  the  type 
of  Christian  theocratic  systems  in  their  ethical,  ecclesiastical  and  political  regulations. 

It  is  therefore  both  one-sided  and  erroneous  to  mistake  either  the  national  and  directly 
popular  meaning  of  the  Mosaic  law  in  earliest  times  or  the  Judaizing  and  superficiality  con- 
cerning this  law  in  the  Rationalistic  era.  This  last  view  Rationalism  has  held  equally  with 
the  Pharisees.  Paul  had  this  in  view  in  his  opposition  to  mere  legality.  The  law  of  the 
three  middle  books  is  literally  and  particularly  the  law  of  the  people  of  Israel;  but  this  peo- 
ple Israel  is  essentially  a  type  of  the  people  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  not  only  of  God's  peo- 
ple in  general,  but  also  of  national  institutions,  of  Christian  nationalities.  The  significance 
of  Israel  in  respect  to  Christian  nationalities  has  been  excellently  set  forth  by  Pastor  Briim 
of  Neukirchen.  Concerning  the  significance  of  nationalities  in  the  Christian  Church,  comp. 
my  Vermischte  Schri/ien,  New  Series  11,  p.  185,  and  "W.  Hoffmann,  Deutschland,  1870, 
Vol.  2. 

We  may  consider  the  special  religion  of  the  patriarchs  as  the  subjective  religion  of  the 
individual  conscience  led  by  divine  grace,  as  a  walk  before  and  with  God  directed  by  special 
instruction  from  God  and  by  complete  obedience  of  faith.  But  now  commences  the  predo- 
minantly objective  form  of  religion  in  which  the  people  of  Israel,  as  an  individual,  are  led  by 
an  external  social  code  of  laws  and  by  mysterious  external  tokens  of  God.  The  patriarchal 
religion  as  compared  with  the  Mosaic  is  more  subjective,  which  gives  it  a  gleam  of  New 


2  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

Testament  or  of  Protestant  evangelical  freedom  and  joy  (Gal.  iii.),  as  we  see  portrayed  in 
the  life  of  the  Sethites :  whilst  the  religion  of  Moses  is  that  of  promise  contained  in  the 
training  of  the  people,  and  therefore  the  external  law  and  symbols  are  chiefly  employed;  as 
in  a  similar  manner  in  the  Middle  Ages  Christendom  served  for  the  elementary  training 
of  the  nations.  But  on  the  other  side  a  great  progress  is  shown,  in  that  now  for  the  first 
time  a  whole  nation  is  made  the  people  of  God,  instead  of  a  holy  family  living  by  them- 
selves, and  in  that  the  simple  word  of  God  and  the  simple  covenant  of  circumcision  unfold 
into  a  complete  code  of  laws  and  an  organization  of  worship  and  of  society.  It  is  also  an  ex- 
ceedingly important  fact  that  Deuteronomy  again  points  out  the  spirituality  of  the  law,  or 
throws  a  bridge  over  to  the  prophetic  era — a  fact  frequently  mistaken.  Comp.  Gen. 
Introd.  p.  49. 

§  2.     THE  PARTICULAR  EELATION  OF  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS  TO  GENESIS. 

According  to  the  preceding,  it  is  not  correct  to  speak  of  Genesis  as  the  introduction  to 
the  following  books.  According  to  that  view,  the  Old  Testament  was  designed  as  a  particu- 
lar and  nation.al  Bible  for  the  Jews.  It  is  rather  the  archives  of  the  foundation  of  the  uni- 
versal and  indestructible  kingdom  and  people  of  God,  whose  coming  is  prefigured  by  the 
typical  people  of  God,  Israel,  and  by  the  typical  kingdom  of  God,  the  theocracy.  For  it  is 
the  high  destination  of  Israel  that  in  becoming  the  representative  of  the  concentration  or 
contraction  of  God's  kingdom  in  process  of  development,  it  should  prepare  and  bring  about 
the  expansion  or  enlargement  of  the  real  and  complete  kingdom  of  God  as  it  is  promised  in 
the  blessing  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xii.  3),  but  especially  in  the  second  part  of  the  prophet  Isaiah 
(chap,  xliii.  21  f ).  Yet  the  Catholicism  of  Genesis  tends  to  this  typical  sjjeciality  by  defining 
narrower  circles  for  the  Messianic  promise.  The  first  circle  is  the  universe  itself  ia  the  sig- 
nificant religious  contrast,  heaven  and  earth.  The  second  circle  is  the  earth,  Adam  with 
his  race.  The  third  circle  is  the  nobler  line  of  Adam  in  the  Sethites  in  contrast  to  the  line 
of  Cain.  The  fourth  circle  is  the  family  of  Noah  baptized  with  the  water  of  the  flood  and 
divided  into  the  pious  and  blessed  family  of  Shem  and  the  humanitarian  and  blessed  people 
of  Japhet.  Then  the  distinctive  genealogical  speciality  is  begun  by  the  setting  apart  of 
Abraham.  His  posterity  is  ennobled  by  a  series  of  exclusions;  Ishmael,  the  children  of 
Keturah  and  Esau,  are  shut  out  from  the  consecrated  circle  of  Israel.  Indeed  within  this 
circle  great  distinctions  are  indicated,  though  in  the  three  books  the  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Joseph  (Ephraim  and  Manasseh)  stand  far  behind  that  of  Levi.  Thus  Genesis,  which  in 
its  Catholicism  is  one  with  the  loftier  Genesis,  the  Apocalypse,  ends  with  the  foundation  of 
the  Jewish  nationality,  with  the  seed-corn  of  the  typical  people  of  God  in  the  house  of 
Jacob. 

The  three  middle  books  in  relation  to  Genesis  are  the  record  of  the  first  typical  fulfill- 
ment of  the  divine  promise  which  was  given  to  Israel,  and  through  Israel  to  mankind  (Gen. 
XV.  13,  14).  They  inform  us  how  a  people  of  God  grew  out  of  the  holy  family,  a  people  born 
amid  the  travail  of  oppression  and  tyranny  in  Egypt.  This  people,  consecrated  to  God, 
come  out  through  the  typical  redemption,  which  first  makes  them  a  people,  and  which  ia 
based  upon  the  fact  that  the  Almighty  God  (El  Shaddai)  appears  under  the  name  Jehovah, 
and  proves  Himself  Jehovah.  For  in  the  revelation  of  God  as  Jehovah,  as  the  covenant 
God  who  ever  remains  the  same,  and  ever  glorifies  Himself  by  His  faithfulness,  there  inhere 
two  very  diverse  revelations,  since  by  the  first  it  was  not  proved  that  he  would  continue  to 
return.  As  in  geometry  we  must  have  two  separate  points  in  order  to  determine  the  dis- 
tance of  a  third  point,  so  in  the  region  of  faith  we  must  have  two  indications  of  salvation  in 
order  to  conclude  assuredly  that  the  covenant-God  will  continue  to  return.  In  this  way  for 
the  first  time  the  name  Jehovah  obtained  its  full  significance,  though  it  was  known  in  ear- 
lier times  in  connection  with  the  prevailing  name  El  Shaddai :  just  as  at  the  Keformation 
the  word  "justification''  was  invested  with  a  new  meaning,  though  it  had  been  known 
before.  On  this  redemption  the  theocracy  (Ex.  xis.)  was  founded,  and  appeared  not  in 
abstract  forms,  but  in  concrete,  historical  characteristics,  in  ethical,  ecclesiastical  and  politi- 
cal laws.    This  code  of  laws  was  a  boundary  separating  Israel  from  all  other  peoples,  placing 


I  3.  TREIR  PARTICULAR  RELATION  TO  DECTERONOMT.  3 

them  in  strongest  contrast  to  other  people-i,  making  them  particularly  the  executioner  of  the 
Canaanites,  who  had  come  to  ruin  through  the  practice  of  unnatural  lust.  By  this  Israel 
would  have  become  actually,  according  to  the  idea  of  the  Pharisees,  "  odium  generis  hu- 
mani,"  had  they  not  been  predestined  to  be  educated  as  the  teacher  of  the  peoples  and  as  the 
mediator  of  their  salvation. 

J  3.  TUE  PARTICULAR  RELATION  OF  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS  TO  DErTEROXOMY. 

Doubt  has  been  expressed  whether  the  man  Moses  who,  in  the  spirit  of  the  severe  jurist, 
,  issued  the  code  of  laws  contained  in  the  three  middle  books,  could  also  be  the  author  of  the 
essential  parts  of  Deuteronomy.  Doubts  of  this  sort  appear  to  pre-suppose  that  a  law- 
giver should  make  his  own  ideals,  his  loftiest  thought  a  code  for  his  people.  But  very 
false  conceptions  of  the  best  legislation  lie  at  the  foundation  of  this  view.  A  wise  lawgiver 
will  approve  himself  by  the  manner  and  mode  in  which  he  accommodates  his  loftiest  views 
of  right  to  the  culture  or  want  of  culture  of  his  people.  Moses  therefore  might  have  given 
a  law  to  his  people  corresponding  to  their  culture  as  he  found  it,  by  more  external  form,  the 
very  letter  of  the  law,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  bald  form  by  picturesque  representations 
of  a  ceremonial  worship  which  appealed  to  the  senses  and  thought,  not  less  than  by  a  strong 
organization  of  the  whole  people.  All  this  Moses  might  have  done  in  the  character  of  a 
Jewish  Solon.  But  his  giving  an  ethical,  ecclesiastical  and  civil  national  law  which  was 
throughout  a  transparent  representation,  the  symbol  and  type  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  proved 
him  to  be  a  prophet  led  and  illumined  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Throughout  his  whole  course  Moses  had  been  educated  equally  as  a  Jewish  specialist  of 
his  times  and  as  a  catholic  embracing  all  future  humanity.  As  the  adopted  child  of  the 
daughter  of  a  Pharaoh,  he  wa.s  educated  in  all  the  wisdom  of  Egypt,  the  most  renowned  cen- 
tre of  human  culture  of  that  time,  and  he  also  became  familiar  among  the  sons  of  the  desert, 
the  Midianites,  with  a  noble  patriarchal  hou'^p.  But  as  he  was  a  true  spiritual  heir  of  Abra- 
ham, his  personal  experiences  formed  the  basis  for  the  catholic  enlightenment  imparted  to 
him. 

But  as  a  prophet  of  Jehovah  it  could  not  be  hidden  from  Moses,  that  with  the  institution 
of  the  covenant-religion  in  the  forms  of  the  extcrniil  law,  there  was  danger  that  the  majority 
of  his  people  might  go  a5tray  in  the  mere  letter  of  the  law  and  in  seeking  righteousness  by 
works.  This  danger  of  misunderstanding  his  law  he  met  by  bringing  out  in  the  second  law, 
in  Deuteronomy,  the  germs  of  spirituality  which  lay  in  the  first  hiw,  and  thereby  opened  a 
way  from  the  isolation  of  Israel  by  its  code  to  the  s])iritual  catholicity  which  was  to  be  de- 
veloped in  the  prophets.  Such  a  transition  is  unmistakably  shown  in  the  original  portions 
of  Deuteronomy  which  we  distinguish  from  the  final  compilation.  We  are  not  called  to  treat 
of  this  compilation,  or  to  offer  any  review  of  treatises  upon  it  (e.  g.  Kleineet's  Treatise,  Baa 
JJeu/eronomium  und  der  Deuteronomiker). 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  throughout  Deuteronomy  a  solemn  prophetic  tone.  Then 
there  is  the  historical  account  of  the  miraculous  leading  of  Israel  in  the  light  of  Jehovah's 
grace,  who  pardoned  the  transgressions  of  the  people,  and  even  made  Moses  a  typical 
substitute  for  the  sins  of  the  people  (chap.  iii.  26,  27).  Israel  and  the  law  do  not  appear 
here  in  the  lightning-flame  of  Sinai;  Israel  is  the  glorious  people  among  the  nations  (chap, 
iv.  7),  and  the  fiery  law  by  which  Jehovah  made  Himself  known  to  Israel  is  comprised  in 
the  words :  "  Yea,  he  loved  the  people  "  (chap,  xsxiii.  3).  Respecting  the  form  of  the  reve- 
lation on  Sinai,  not  the  terrors  at  the  giving  of  the  law  are  recalled,  but  the  fact 
that  Israel  heard  only  the  words  of  God  ;  they  did  not  see  His  form,  in  order  that  the  danger 
of  making  images  of  God  might  be  averted  (cliap.  iv.  15).  Thus  decidedly  were  the  pcojile 
directed  in  the  way  of  spiritual  worship.  The  command  against  image  worship  in  its  length 
and  breadth  becomes  a  long-continued,  positive  demand  for  spirituality  in  religion.  In  tho 
repetition  of  the  ten  commandments  (chap,  v.),  in  the  tenth,  the  wife  is  placed  before  tho 
house,  and  the  critics  have  greatly  troubled  themselves  with  the  question  whether  this  posi- 
tion (chap.  V.  21)  or  the  reverse  in  the  decalogue  (Ex.  xx.  17)  is  the  right  one.  This  alter- 
native would  make  no  essential  change ;  for  in  Exodus  the  lawgiver  speaks,  but  in  Deutcro- 


4  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

nomy  the  prophet  who  interprets  the  law.  According  to  the  law  the  wife  is  part  of  the 
house  and  the  property  of  the  man ;  according  to  her  spiritual  relations,  she  is  above  the 
house.  By  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  (its  importance  as  regards  worship  in  Leviticus  must  be 
distinguished  from  its  ethical  value,  Ex.  xx.)  the  principle  of  humanity,  which  was  stated  in  the 
first  sketch  of  the  civil  law  (Ex.  xxiii.  12),  is  further  developed  (Deut.  v.  14,  15).  Especially 
remarkable  is  the  expansion  of  the  first  commandment  in  the  declaration  :  Thou  shalt  love 
Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  witb  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mit^ht  (chap, 
vi.  5).  The  covenant-sign  of  circumcision  is  here  referred  to  the  circumcision  of  the  heart, 
regeneration  (chap.  x.  16;  xxx.  6). 

In  Leviticus,  after  the  curse  and  the  blessing,  come  a  few  words  of  promise  of  the  resto- 
ration of  Israel  (chap,  xxvi.) ;  but  here  how  greatly  is  that  promise  expanded  in  prophecy 
( Deut.  chap,  xxx.)  1  This  prophetic  tendency  in  Deuteronomy  is  not  obscured  by  the  .severe 
enactments  against  the  Canaanites  (chap,  vii.) ;  they  are  rather,  on  the  one  side,  moderated 
(chap.  vii.  22),  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  reason  for  them  is  given  (ver.  22).  If  more 
is  said  in  this  book  of  the  Levites  than  of  the  priests,  it  is  a  proof  not  of  the  exaltation, 
but  of  the  lessening  of  the  priesthood,  a  step  towards  the  general  priesthood.  To  these  are 
added  the  laws  of  a  genuine  humanity  in  the  laws  of  war  (chap,  xx.)  and  also  in  various 
commands  touching  forbearance  and  morality.  And  finally  the  solemnity  of  the  song  and 
of  the  blessing  of  Moses.  The  grand  antithesis  between  the  song  and  the  blessing  makes 
these  chapters  the  flower  of  Deuteronomy :  in  the  song  the  curse  referred  to  culminates;  in 
the  blessing,  the  promise.  As  Genesis  from  a  universal  basis  converges  to  the  particularity 
of  the  three  middle  hooks,  so  Deuteronomy  diverges  in  the  direction  of  catholicity.  This 
shows  that  the  particularity  of  the  three  books  is  economical  and  temporary,  and  that  a 
golden  thread  of  spiritual  significance,  of  symbolical,  typical  suggestion  runs  through  the 
whole  law. 

For  the  distinction  between  Deuteronomy  and  each  of  the  three  middle  books,  comp. 
the  article  "  Pentateuch  "  in  Heezog's  Real-Encydopcedie. 

?  4.     THE   RELATION  OF  THE  THREE  JIIDDLE  BOOKS  OF  THE  LAW  TO  EACH   OTHER. 

The  internal,  essential  relation  of  the  three  middle  books  of  the  law  to  each  other  is  not 
defined  with  sufficient  theological  exactness  either  by  the  Hebrew  names  which  are  the  first 
words  of  the  books,  niDt?  nSx,  X"ip'i,  131?3,  or  by  the  Greek  names  of  the  Septuagint  rep- 
resenting the  principal  subjects  of  the  books  (comj).  Haetwig's  Tabellen  zur  Einkitung  des 
Allen  Testaments,  2  Aujl.  S.  28). 

An  approximate  distinction  is  found  in  the  old  division  of  the  law  into  the  moral,  cere- 
monial and  civil  law.  Yet  these  three  forms  do  not  suflicieutly  correspond  to  the  concrete 
character  of  the  three  books. 

But  in  perfect  accord  with  the  distinguishing  marks  of  Messianic  prophecy,  we  may 
designate  the  first  book  (Exodus)  as  the  prophetic  book  of  the  theocracy,  the  second  (Levi- 
ticus) as  the  priestly  book,  the  third  (Numbers)  as  the  kingly  book,  the  book  of  the  army, 
its  preparation  and  marches,  and  service  of  the  heavenly  king.  In  the  sequence  of  these 
books  there  is  mirrored  the  sequence  of  the  ofliees  of  Christ,  whilst  in  the  history  of  Israel 
the  rule  of  the  prophets  (judges  included)  comes  first,  then  the  rule  of  the  kings,  and  lastly 
the  rule  of  the  priests.* 

That  in  the  preparation  of  the  three  books  this  distinction  was  intentionally  maintained 
appears  from  the  plainest  marks.  A  cursory  consideration  might,  for  instance,  ask:  why  do 
we  not  find  the  large  section  containing  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  in  Leviticus  rather  than 
in  Exodus,  since  the  tabernacle  is  the  holy  place  of  Levitical  worship  ?  According  to  the 
explanation  of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  the  tabernacle  is  primarily  not  the  house  of  the 
oflerer,  but  of  him  to  whom  the  ofiering  is  brought ;  not  the  priest's  house,  but  God's  house, 

*  Ewald  greatly  misunderstands  the  matter  when  he  makes  the  following  order:  God's  rule,  kings'  rule,  saints'  rule. 
God's  rule,  or  the  theocracy,  is  not  a  form  of  government ;  it  is  the  principle  of  government ;  hut  in  permanent  sovereignty 
it  controlled  all  the  three  forms  of  government  until  they  ended  with  the  destruction  of  Jerus-ilem. 


?  5.    ORGANISM  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS  AS  TO  THEIR  Ux\ITY,  ETC.  5 

the  temple-palace  of  Jehovah,  where  He  is  present  as  law-giver,  and  maintains  the  law  given 
on  Sinai ;  we  might  say,  it  is  the  Sinai  that  moves  with  the  people ;  and  therefore  it  is  the 
house  where  Jehovah  ever  meets  with  His  people  through  the  mediation  of  His  representa- 
tives. The  significance  of  the  tabernacle  as  the  place  of  the  revelation  of  the  glory  of  God 
comes  out  very  clearly  at  the  close  of  Exodus  Ci^.^S    'HS  and   '^'''J]'^  ^\}^)- 

But  we  must  more  exactly  define  the  two  parts  of  Exodus. 

The  first  part  (chaps,  i.-xviii.)  narrates  the  formation  of  the  people  of  Israel  up  to  the 
foundation  of  the  theocracy  by  tlieir  redemption,  that  is,  the  typical  redemption  and  creation 
of  the  people  of  God  and  the  typical  foundation  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  second  part 
(chaps,  xix.-xl.)  comprises  the  giving  of  the  law,  the  ethical  law,  and  the  tabernacle  as  the 
dwelling-place  of  the  Law-giver.  To  this  is  added  in  Leviticus  the  law  of  worship  and  in 
Numbers  the  political  law,  for  the  most  part  illustrated  by  examples. 

The  first  part  (chaps,  i.-xviii.)  is  therefore  the  real  foundation  of  the  three  books,  the  sin- 
gle trunk  which  is  further  on  divided  into  three  codes  of  laws.  But  the  preponderance  of 
the  prophetical  and  ethical  law,  of  the  decalogue  over  the  law  of  worship  and  tlie  civil  law 
is  shown  by  its  place  in  the  foundation,  and  it  also  appears  from  the  fact  that  with  the  deca- 
logue the  outline  of  the  three-fold  code  of  laws  is  given  (Ex.  xx.-xxiii.). 

In  accord  with  the  same  law  of  a  definite  characteristic  distinction  of  the  books,  we  find 
in  Leviticus  the  laws  of  the  festivals  arranged.  All  those  fe-stivals  are  placed  before  them  as 
priests  (chap,  xxiii. ).  The  Sabbath  appears  here  not  in  an  ethical  point  of  view  as  the  day  of  rest 
but  in  its  relation  to  worship  as  the  day  of  the  great  assembly  and  as  the  basis  of  all  other 
festivals  ordained  by  God  (chap,  xxiii.).  But  all  these  festivals  are  preceded  by  the  distinc- 
tive mark  of  Leviticus,  the  complete  directions  concerning  the  great  day  of  atonement  (chap, 
xvi.).  In  like  manner  the  ten  commandments  and  all  the  statutes  are  conformed  to  the 
priestly  idea  (chap,  xix.);  and  so  the  fourth  book  of  Moses,  the  book  of  the  army  of  God  and 
of  the  beginning  of  its  marches,  true  to  its  character,  commences  with  a  muster  of  the  people 
fit  for  war. 

Numbers  therefore  stands  with  the  impress  of  the  kingly  revelation  of  Jehovah.  It 
forms  the  foundation  for  the  conscription  of  the  army  of  the  Lord  (chap,  i.-iii.).  And  if  the 
Levites  are  again  mentioned  here,  it  is  because  they  are  now  appointed  to  sanctify  the  march 
of  the  people  of  God  and  their  wars  (chai)s,  iii.  44 — chap.  iv.).  The  laws  of  purification, 
which  were  inculcated  in  Leviticus  with  respect  to  worship,  are  repeated  here  that  the  camp 
of  the  army  of  God  should  be  kept  clean,  in  order  that  the  army  may  be  invincible  (chap, 
v.).  All  directions  with  respect  to  sacrifice  which  are  repeated  here  are  given  more  or  less 
for  this  end  (chaps,  vi.-x.).  And  therefore  the  two  silver  trumpets,  which  sounded  the  march, 
form  the  last  of  all  these  regulations.  But  the  offences  of  the  people,  their  calamities  and 
judgments,  afford  visible  proofs  that  it  is  the  typical  march  of  the  people  of  God  and  the 
divine  guidance  of  the  people  which  are  set  before  us  (chaps,  xi.-xvii.),  and  that  by  severe,  yet 
gracious  interposition,  the  errors  of  the  people  are  removed.  And  then,  preceded  by  new 
ordinances  for  purification,  and,  since  the  assembly  needed  a  new  incitement,  by  the  death 
of  Miriam  and  Aaron  in  due  time,  and  by  the  purification  of  Moses  himself  with  the  assem- 
bly through  great  perturbation  at  the  waters  of  Meribah  (chap,  xx.),  the  great  conquests  of 
Jehovah  (one  had  long  before  taken  place)  follow,  though  these  are  again  interrupted  by 
new  transgressions  by  the  people  (chap,  xxi.-xxv.).  The  second  enumeration  of  the  people 
marks  the  end  of  the  ])rcliminary  foundation  of  the  state  (chap,  xxvi.),  and  hence  there  fol- 
low sketches  of  the  political  and  civil  law  (chap.  xxvi.  f ).  The  regulations  of  the  festival 
again  occur  here,  because  of  their  relation  to  the  civil  order  of  the  state.  All  further  di- 
rections are  merely  outlines  of  the  future  typical  state  (chaps,  xxx.-xxxvi.). 

1 5.     THE  ORGANISM  OF  THE    THREE    B00K9  AS  TO  THEIR  UNITY  AND  THEIR   SEPARATE 
PARTS. 

The  ethical  and  prophetic  legislation  of  Exodus  is  based  on  the  formation  and  redemp- 
tion of  the  people  of  God :  it  is  also  the  prophecy  of  the  better  legislation,  the  erection  of  a 
true  spiritual  kingdom  of  God  by  the  vivifying  laws  of  the  Spirit  of  God.    The  typical,  sac- 


6  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

rificial  rites  of  Leviticus  are  connected  with  this  prophecy  by  internal  relations.  Then  on 
the  basis  of  consecration  through  sacrifice,  the  army  of  God,  according  to  the  book  of  Num- 
bers, comes  together  in  order  that,  being  led  by  God  in  its  marches  and  purified  by  peculiar 
judgments,  it  may  execute  judgment  upon  the  world  and  lay  the  foundation  of  God's  state. 

In  accordance  with  the  three-fold  division  Moses  appears  most  prominently  in  Exodus 
(Exodus  IS  therefore  peculiarly  the  book  of  Moses),  Aaron  in  Leviticus,  and  the  princes  and 
leaders  of  the  twelve  tribes  in  Numbers.  We  have  already  mentioned  that  this  three-fold 
division  becomes  four-fold  because  we  must  distinguish  in  Exodus  the  general  fundamental 
portion  (chaps,  i. — xviii.)  from  that  which  is  special. 

The  organism  of  Exodua — The  theocracy  an  prophetic  and  ethical,  or  as  the  sole  foundation  of 
worship  and  of  culture. 

Exodus  is  divided  in  general  into  two  parts  ;  the  first  part  (chaps,  i. — xviii.)  narrates  the 
formation  and  redemption  of  the  people  of  God,  more  strictly,  the  formation  of  the  people  of 
God  and  their  redemption  until  the  institution  of  God's  state  or  the  theocracy;  the  second 
part  (chaps,  xix. — xl.)  narrates  the  institution  of  the  covenant  and  the  ethical  and  propheti- 
cal law  of  God  by  itself,  a  compendium  of  the  whole  law  as  special  training  unto  Christ,  until 
the  completion  of  the  habitation  of  the  ever-present  Law-giver. 

The  first  larger  division  is  divided  again  into  the  history  of  the  typical  origin  and  re- 
demption of  Israel  (chaps,  i.^xii.),  and  into  the  history  of  the  confirmation  of  the  redemp- 
tion by  the  typical  consecration  (chaps,  xiii. — xviii.).  The  fundamental  thought  of  the  first 
part  of  the  history  of  redemption  is  deliverance  through  suffering,  a  deliverance  marked  by 
the  institution  and  celebration  of  the  passover,  with  the  solemn  exodus  begun  with  the  re- 
past of  the  exodus,  the  passover  (chap.  xii.).  The  fundamental  thought  of  the  second  part, 
or  of  the  history  cf  the  confirmation  of  the  redemption,  is  the  separation  of  Israel  from  the 
Egyptians  by  the  passage  through  the  Ked  Sea,  accomplished  by  means  of  the  pillar  of  cloud 
and  of  fire  (chap,  xiv.),  celebrated  in  Moses'  song  of  victory,  and  taking  shape  in  the  prepa- 
ration for  the  theocratic  covenant.  The  first  part  describes  merely  the  pangs  of  birth  until 
the  birth,  the  second  describes  merely  separations  or  typical  consecrations. 

The  second  larger  division  (chaps,  xix.— xl.)  is  divided  into  the  history  of  the  covenant 
of  the  first  legislation  (chaps,  xix. — xxiii.),  of  the  Institution  of  the  covenant  (chap,  xxiv.), 
and  of  the  ordering  of  the  tabernacle  together  with  the  recejition  of  the  written  law  (chaps. 
XXV. — xxxi.) ;  further  into  the  history  of  the  apostasy  in  the  setting  up  of  the  golden  calf, 
of  the  restoration  of  the  covenant  through  chastisements,  and  of  the  law  renewed  partly  in 
severer,  partly  in  milder  terms  (chaps,  xxxii. — xxxiv.);  finally  into  the  history  of  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tabernacle,  by  which  Mount  Sinai  or  the  house  and  the  revelation  of  the  Law-giver 
is  brought  within  the  congregation  of  God  (chaps,  xxxv. — xl.). 

Eemark. — Some  commentators  and  writers  of  Introductions  never  give  themselves  the 
trouble  to  discover  the  arrangement  of  these  books,  but,  on  the  contrary,  tell  us  the  sources 
whence  they  were  compiled.  This  is  plainly  scientific  aberration,  the  result  of  an  ambitious 
but  owl-like  criticism,  an  anatomical  history  of  literature,  which  without  right  desires 
to  be  called  theology.  However  thoroughly  one  may  pursue  the  question  of  the  sources,  that 
will  not  release  us  from  the  duty  of  understanding  the  books  as  they  are  according  to  their 
logical  structure  and  religious  intention. 

The  organism  of  Leviticus — The  theocracy  as  priestly;  after  the  dedication  of  the  covenant-con- 
gregation to  God  follows  the  dedication  of  the  covenant-people  to  Jehovah,  the  holy  covenant- 
God,  by  means  of  theocratic  consecration,  for  the  purpose  of  manifesting  theocratic  holiness. 
The  fundamental  thought  of  this  book  is  offemjg,  but  offering  as  atonement  or  the  typi- 
cal atonement  with  God  (chap.  xvi.).     Both  the  principal  divisions  correspond  with  this. 
First,  the  holy  rites   (chaps,  i. — xvi.);  second,  the  hol^Jife  (chaps,  xvii.—xxvii.).     In  the 
first  section  the  various  offerings  are  set  forth  in  order,  beginning  with  the  burnt  offering  and 
ending  with  the  peace  offering  (chaps,  i. — vii.).     It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  this  book  it 
is  repeatedly  said,  "  when  one  brings  an  offering,"  whilst  the  ethical  decalogue  speaks  abso- 


ORGANISM  OF  THE  TUREE  COOKS    AS  TO  THEIR  CXITT,  ETC. 


lutely  "  tliou  shalt."  In  the  second  section  follow  the  directions  concerning  those  appointed 
to  the  office  of  mediation  by  sacrifice,  the  priests,  i.  e.,  of  those  who  in  a  typical  sense  are 
worthy  to  draw  near  to  God  in  behalf  of  the  sinful  people  (Jer.  xsx.  21)  chaps,  viii. — x. 
Then  follow  the  directions  concerning  the  animals  of  the  typical  offering,  clean  beasts  which 
as  distinguished  from  unclean  beasts  are  alone  fit  for  an  offering  {chap.  xi.).  Then  is 
described  the  typical  cleanness  or  purification  of  the  offerers,  i.  e.,  of  the  Israelites  bringing 
the  offering.  With  these  directions  is  reached  the  festival  of  the  yearly  offering  for  atone- 
ment, the  central  point  and  climax  of  worship  by  offerings  (chap.  xvi.). 

Hence  there  now  follow  in  the  second  division  the  typical  consequents  of  the  typical 
offering  for  atonement,  the  precepts  for  maintaining  holiness,  a.  All  killing  and  eating  of 
flesh  becomes  in  the  light  of  the  offering  for  atonement  a  thank  offering  (chap.  xvii.).  b. 
Since  the  table  of  the  Israelite  as  a  priest  is  hallowed,  so  is  also  his  marriage  (chap,  xviii.). 
This  priestly  holiness  pertains  to  all  the  relations  of  life;  first,  positively  (chap.xix.) ;  second, 
nesatively  (chap.  xx.).  Above  all  it  demauJs  a  typical  positive  maintenance  of  holiness  in 
the  priestly  office  itself  (chaps,  xxi.— xxii.  16),  as  well  as  perfection  in  the  very  animals  to 
be  offered  (chap.  xxii.  17-33).  To  the  keeping  holy  the  animals  for  offering  is  joined  the 
keeping  holy  the  festivals  on  which  the  offerings  are  brought  (chap,  xxiii.) :  so  also  theacts 
of  offering  (chap.  -xxiv.  1-9).  The  keeping  holy  the  name  of  Jehovah  is  inculcated  by  an 
instance  of  punishment  (chap.  xxiv.  10-23).  The  very  land  of  Israel  must  be  kept  holy  by 
the  Sabbatic  year  and  the  great  year  of  jubilee  (chap.  xxv.).  The  general  law  of  the  typical 
holy  keeping  is  then  followed,  as  a  conclasion,  by  the  sanction  or  declaration  of  the  holiness 
of  the  law  itself;  the  promise  of  the  blessing,  the  threatening  of  the  curse  (chap.  xxvi.). 

But  why  does  ch.  xxvii.  speak  of  special  vows  ?  Here  also  the  law  points  beyond  itself. 
Vows  are  the  expressions  of  a  free,  prophetic,  lofty  piety.  They  point  to  a  higher  plane,  as 
the  consilia  nangelica  of  the  Middle  Ages  sought  to  do  this,  but  could  do  no  more  because 
they  made  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  a  mere  external  law  of  the  letter,  and  just  as  the 
longings  inspired  by  the  concilia,  evangelica  found  their  solution  in  a  life  of  evangelical  faith, 
so  the  desires  expressed  by  Old  Testament  vows  found  their  solution  in  the  New  Testament. 
But  under  the  law  they  were  to  be  regulated  according  to  law.  Yet  even  in  the  great  day 
of  atonement  there  were  two  ceremonies  which  pointed  beyond  the  Old  Testament;  first,  an 
offering  for  atonement  in  accordance  with  all  legal  offerings ;  second,  the  putting  of  the  un- 
known, unatoned  sins  on  Azazel*  in  the  desert. 

The  organUm  of  the  Book  of  Namhers—The  theocraetj  as  kingly  in  iU  relation  to  the  world. 

The  army  of  Ood.     Its  preparation.     Its  march  to  take  possession  of  the  inheritance  of  God. 

Its  transgressions,  its  defeat  and  rejuvenescence  under  the  discipline  of  its  king  Jehovah  and 

under  the  leading  of  Moses  to  the  border  of  the  promised  land. 

The  fundamental  thought  of  the  book  of  Numbers  is  the  march  of  the  typical  army  of 
God  at  the  sound  of  the  silver  trumpets,  the  signals  of  war  and  victory  for  directing  the  wars 
of  Jehovah,  until  the  firm  founding  of  God's  state,  and  the  celebration  of  the  festivals  of  vic- 
tor)' and  blessing  of  Jehovah  in  the  land  of  promise  (chap.  x.  1-10).  Around  this  centre  are 
grouped  the  separate  parts  of  the  book. 

Tlie  conscription  and  the  order  of  the  camp  of  the  holy  people  form  the  first  part :  at  the 
same  time  the  Levites  are  assigned  to  lead  the  army  of  God  (in  a  symbolical  sense  as  a  banner, 
not  in  a  strategic  sense,  chap.  iii.  22) ;  they  arc  also  mentioned  here  as  being  the  servants  of 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  symbolic  banner  of  the  army,  to  precede  the  army  (chs.  i.-iv.). 

Upon  tliis  in  the  second  part  follow  the  directions  for  the  typical  consecration  of  the 
army,  especially  for  putting  away  whatever  would  defile  (chap,  v.),  and  for  self-denial  on  the 
part  of  the  army  (chap.  vi.  1-21) ;  then  the  solemn  blessing  of  the  army  (chap.  vi.  22-27), 
and  the  gifts  and  offerings  which  the  leaders  of  the  army  brought  for  the  tabernacle  as  the 
central  point  (staff  and  head-quarters)  of  the  army  of  God  (chap.  vii.).  Then  in  conformity 
with  this  high  purpose  the  splendid  lights  of  the  tabernacle  and  those  who  were  to  serve  them, 
the  Levites,  are  spoken  of  (chap.  viii.).  In  addition  to  these  consecrations  there  are  enact- 
*  [3o«  note,  p.    43]. 


8  GENERAL  IXTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

ments  for  keeping  clean  the  army  by  the  feast  of  the  passover  and  the  supplementing  of  the 
law  of  the  passover  by  that  of  the  second  passover  for  those  unclean  at  the  first,  stragglers  in 
the  holy  march,  and  by  the  law  for  strangers  eating  the  passover  (chap.  ix.  1-14). 

The  third  part,  the  central  point  of  the  book,  forms  a  special  section.  It  describes  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire  over  the  tabernacle  as  the  divine  signal  for  the  marches. of  Israel, 
and  the  blowing  of  the  silver  trumpets  as  the  human  signal  following  the  divine  (chap.  ix. 
15— X.  10). 

Then  in  the  fourth  part  the  departure  of  Israel  from  Sinai  and  the  first  division  of  its 
marches,  its  chastisement  by  a  series  of  calamities,  transgressions  and  judgments,  which 
proves  that  this  army  of  God  is  only  symbolical  and  typical.  This  occasions  the  institution 
of  a  new  purification  of  the  people  by  the  sprinkling  of  water,  mixed  with  the  ashes  of  a  red 
heifer,  which  has  been  made  a  curse.  This  section  ends  with  the  death  of  Miriam  and  of 
the  high-priest  Aaron  (chap.  x.  11 — chap.  xx.).  This  part  includes  the  march  to  Kadesh 
and  the  long  sojourn  there  till  the  departure  of  the  new  generation  for  Mount  Hor.  Special 
incidents  are,  the  burning  in  the  camp  and  the  miraculous  gift  of  food  by  manna  and  quails; 
the  boasting  of  Aaron  and  Miriam  against  Moses  ;  the  dejection  of  the  people  at  the  report 
of  the  spies  and  their  defeat  afterwards  in  their  presumption;  a  new  regulation  of  the  peace- 
ofierings,  which  encloses  a  new  prediction  of  the  promised  land  ;  a  violation  of  the  Sabbath 
and  the  judgment  accorded  to  it;  the  rebellion  and  destruction  of  Korah's  faction;  the  mur- 
muring of  the  people  against  the  judgment  which  had  overtaken  the  faction,  and  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  people  from  the  judgment  intended  for  them  by  the  incense  ofil-red  by  Aaron,  at 
which  time  the  position  of  the  priesthood  is  still  higher  advanced.  And  finally,  apart  by 
itself  comes  the  catastrophe  at  Meribah,  when  both  Moses  and  Aaron  sinned  and  were 
punished. 

The  fifth  part  describes  the  second  division  of  the  march  of  the  Israelites,  which  appa- 
rently is  to  a  large  extent  a  return ;  but  it  now  begins  to  be  a  march  of  victory,  though  some 
great  transgressions  of  the  people  are  followed  by  great  punishments.  On  this  march,  which 
begins  at  Mount  Hor  and  continues  througli  a  great.circuit  around  the  land  of  the  Edomites 
to  the  encampment  of  the  Israelites  at  Shittim  in  the  plain  of  Moab,  Eleazar  the  new  high- 
priest  stands  by  the  side  of  Moses ;  at  last  Joshua  comes  forth  more  positively  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  Moses  (chaps,  xxi. — xxv.).  The  two  transgressions  of  Israel,  their  murmuring 
because  of  the  long  journey,  and  their  thoughtless  participation  in  the  revels  of  the  Midi- 
anites  in  the  land  of  Moab,  are  punished  by  suitable  inflictions,  which  are  again  followed  by 
theocratic  types  of  salvation.  The  blessings  of  Balaam  form  the  central  point  of  the  exalta- 
tion of  Israel  now  beginning. 

With  the  sixth  part  begin  the  preparations  for  entrance  into  Canaan.  First  there  is  a 
new  enumeration  of  the  now  purified  people,  the  new  generation.  Then  an  enlargement  of 
the  law  of  inheritance,  especially  in  reference  to  daughters  who  are  heirs.  Then  the  conse- 
cration of  Joshua  as  the  leader  of  Israel.  The  directions  with  regard  to  the  ofierings  which 
are  now  made  more  definite  are  a  presage  of  the  march  into  Canaan,  or  of  the  beginning  of  a 
time  when  Israel  will  be  able  to  bring  these  ofierings.  The-new  law  of  the  feasts  given  here 
bears  a  similar  signification.  The  seventh  new  moon,  the  great  Sabbath  of  the  year,  is  made 
chief  of  all,  as  a  sign  that  Israel  now  enters  into  its  rest.  Here  also  the  sphere  of  the  vow 
appears  as  one  of  greater  freedom,  and  above  that  of  the  legal  offerings ;  but  at  the  same  time 
it  must  be  brought  under  the  rule  of  law.  A  last  blow  against  the  heathen,  the  campaign 
for  vengeance  on  the  Midianites,  by  which  Israel  is  purified,  forms  the  conclusion  of  these 
preparations  (chaps,  xxvi. — xxxi.). 

The  seventh  part  contains  the  commencement  of  the  settlement  of  Israel  in  Canaan. 
First,  the  settlement  of  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad  and  the  half  tribe  of  JIanasseh,  are 
described.  This  is  followed  by  a  retrospect  of  the  wandering  in  the  desert;  and  by  an  anti- 
cipation of  the  future,  consisting  of  an  encouragement  to  enter  the  land,  defining  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  land  and  those  who  should  allot  the  land,  at  the  same  time  particularly  mentioning 
the  cities  of  the  Levites  and  of  refuge.  Finally  the  inheritance  of  the  tribes  is  ensured  against 
division  (chaps,  xxxii.— xxxvi.). 


?  6.    REL.VTICX  OF  THE  TIIUEE  BOOKS  TO  HOLY  SCRIPTURE  IN  GENERAL. 


g  6.    THE  RELATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS  TO  HOLY  SCRIPTURE  IX  GENERAL,  AND  TO 
THE  XEW  TESTAMENT  IN  PARTICULAR. 

These  three  middle  books  are  in  an  especial  sense  the  law  books,  or  the  law  of  the  Jewish 
people.  But  even  for  the  Je^vi^h  people  they  are  not  books  of  a  mere  external  law  for  the 
regulation  of  an  external  state.  With  such  a  view  these  books  would  be  read  as  the  heathen 
law  books  of  a  powerful  heathenism,  and  the  Jewish  people  would  be  regarded  as  a  heathen 
people  among  the  heathen.  In  fact  the  Jewish  people  who  made  the  law  a  covenant  of  the 
partiality  of  God  and  of  righteousness  by  works,  has  been  shattered  as  a  nation,  and  cast  out 
among  all  people. 

In  conjunction  with  the  special  legal  and  national  signification,  these  books,  as  books  of 
revelation,  have  a  symbolical  side  ;  in  their  literal  commands  and  historical  features  they 
present  in  symbol  lofty  spiritual  relations.  The  law  of  circumcision  announced  in  Genesis 
becomes  the  symbol  of  a  circumcision  of  the  heart.  This  symbolical  side  of  the  law  in  limited 
construction,  becomes  further  on  through  the  law  in  broader  construction,  the  larger  revela- 
tion of  God  in  prophec\',  till  the  latter  passes  away  in  the  morning  beams  of  the  Spirit. 

But,  thirdly,  the  three  books  have  a  typical  side ;  they  set  forth  the  future  real,  i.  e.,  spi- 
ritual redemption  and  its  fruit,  the  new  covenant  and  the  real  kingdom  of  God,  that  is,  the 
New  Testament  in  preparatory'  and  fundamental  outlines.  If  we  regard  merely  the  symboli- 
cal and  typical,  that  is  the  spiritual  side  of  the  three  books,  we  have  the  New  Testament  in 
the  Old,  the  beginnings  and  foundations  of  the  eternal  revelation  of  salvation  (Heb.  .\i.  1  f.); 
if  we  regard  only  the  exterior  we  have  the  national  law  of  the  Jews,  whose  burden  and  im- 
possibility of  fulfillment  must  lead  to  Christ  (Acts  xv.).  But  regarding  both  sides  at  once, 
we  have  the  picture  of  a  strong  concentration  or  contraction  of  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  pre- 
paration for  its  future  unlimited  expansion  and  catholicity. 

The  positive  side  of  this  history  of  legislation  is  the  lofty  spiritual  aim  and  significance 
of  the  law,  its  prophetical  and  Messianic  bearing.  Its  negative  side  consists  in  its  bringing 
out  prominently  that  the  law  as  law  cannot  give  life,  but  that  under  the  law  the  people  con- 
stantly stumble  and  fall,  and  only  by  divine  chastisements  and  grace,  by  priestly  intercession 
and  atonement,  by  true  repentance  and  faith,  do  they  again  reach  the  path  of  salvation. 

AVithin  this  law — irrespective  of  its  expansion  in  Deuteronomy — there  is  great  progress 
nnd  growth,  as  is  shown  in  the  difference  of  the  relations  before  and  after  the  Betting  up  of 
the  golden  calf,  between  the  first  and  second  tables  of  the  law. 

At  the  first  giving  of  the  law  the  people  see  the  lightning  and  hear  the  thunder  on  the 
mount,  and  in  mortal  fear  hurry  away.  Moses  alone  must  speak  with  God  for  the  people. 
But  Moses  was  able  so  far  to  quiet  the  people,  that  after  the  giving  of  the  law  Aaron,  Nadab, 
Abihu,  and  seventy  elders,  w^ith  Moses,  were  able  to  approach  the  top  of  the  mount,  and  there 
behold  God,  and  eat  and  drink  (E.'cod.  xxiv.).  At  the  second  sojourn  of  Moses  on  the  mount, 
we  do  not  hear  of  these  fearful  signs.  From  mysterious  concealment  and  silence,  he  comes 
forth  with  shining  face,  before  which  Aaron  and  the  princes,  who  at  the  first  giving  of  the 
law  beheld  God,  retreat ;  and  their  slslvish  fear,  and  that  of  the  people,  is  again  quieted  by 
covering  Moses'  face  with  a  vail.  Jehovah  Himself,  also,  in  order  to  reassure  the  people, 
makes  known  from  Sinai  the  meaning  of  the  name  Jehovah  ;  that  He  was  "God,  merciful 
and  gracious,  long-suffering  and  abundant  in  grace  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands, 
forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin,  but  leaving  nothing  unpunished,  and  visiting  the 
iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the  children's  children,  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation."  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  now  determined  that  Jehovah  will 
accompany  the  people,  not  as  Jehovah  Himself,  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  but  in  the  form 
of  an  angel  before  them,  that  is,  in  the  form  of  Old  Testament  revelation  and  law.  As  a 
mark  of  this  positive  scpar.ation,  Moses  removes  his  tent  as  a  provisional  tabernacle  outside 
the  camp  ;  an  act  which  brings  to  mind  John  the  Baptist  in  the  wilderness;  and  the  congre- 
gation in  the  camp  is  by  that  declared  unclean. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  COOKS. 


?  7.  THE  RELATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS  TO  THE  RECORDS  OX  WHICH  THEY  WERE  FOUNDED. 

The  logical  connection  and  the  organic  unity  of  these  three  books  are  exhibited  iu  unde- 
niable precision,  clearness,  and  beauty. 

And  not  less  clear  is  it  that  this  whole  complex  of  the  Jewish  national  law  is  arranged 
not  according  to  the  strict  requirements  of  history  but  of  religion ;  a  sacred  tabernacle  though 
made  of  historical  materials  ;  not  a  mere  didactic  composition,  but  a  concrete  didactic  dispo- 
sition strung  upon  the  threads  of  history.  Separating  the  historical  from  the  didactic  ele- 
ments, we  find  that  the  first  historical  portion  (Exodus,  chaps,  i. — xviii.),  makes  a  book  by 
itself.  Joined  to  this,  as  a  second  book,  is  the  second  part  of  E.xodus  ;  the  book  of  propheti- 
cal and  ethical  legislation.  Leviticus  contains  no  trace  of  historical  progress ;  it  is  simply  the 
law-book  of  Levitical  worship.  The  first  section  of  Numbers  (chaps,  iv. — x.  10),  forms  the 
outline  of  the  theocratic,  kingly  legislation.  Then  at  the  blast  of  the  silver  trumpets  the 
people  depart  from  Sinai.  And  now  follow,  the  second  historical  part  of  the  whole 
work,  the  march  from  Sinai  to  the  plain  of  Moab,  and  various  new  legal  precepts,  as  special 
circumstances  occasioned  them.  Thus  the  three  books  arranged  according  to  theocratic  pur- 
poses make  five  books,  a  smaller  Pentateuch  in  the  greater.  Though  we  may  not  lay  special 
stress  upon  the  sacred  trinity  of  this  law,  yet  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  ethical  legisla- 
tion progresses  through  the  stadia  of  development,  that  the  legislation  concerning  worship 
from  beginning  to  end  is  a  finished  system,  which  is  further  on  supplemented  by  the  civil 
legislation,  while  this  last  is  enlarged  iis  historical  occasions  required,  in  accordance  with  the 
usual  course  of  civil  legislation.  But  that  this  concrete  unity  did  not  proceed  from  a  single 
human  author  under  divine  inspiration,  appears  from  many  proofs,  as  well  as  from  the  very 
nature  of  these  books.  First  of  all,  this  is  shown  by  the  connection  with  Deuteronomy,  in 
which  it  is  plain  that  previously-existing  records  were  arranged  by  a  subsequent  editor.  Such 
records  are  also  in  these  books  quoted  or  presupposed,  for  instance,  the  songs  (Numb.  xxi.  17 
if.,  27  fi'.) :  the  history  and  especially  the  prophecies  of  Balaam. 

In  general  we  cannot  with  certainty  decide  between  those  parts  which  had  Moses  for 
their  author  (as  for  instance  Bleek  does  in  his  Introduction,  recognizing  many  such  parts), 
and  those  which  are  due  to  a  later  revision  or  addition ;  but  from  satisfactory  proofs  we  make 
the  following  distinctions :  1,  Those  originals  which  are  fundamental,  to  wit,  the  primary, 
traditional  and  written  records  of  the  genesis  of  the  people — especially  of  Joseph — then  the 
outlines  of  the  theocratic  legislation  (the  passover,  the  decalogue,  the  tabernacle,  the  law  of 
offerings,  etc.,  songs,  forms  of  blessing,  encampments) ;  2,  the  arrangement  of  the  law  into 
three  parts  by  the  hand  of  Moses  ;  3,  a  final  later  revision,  which,  by  arrangement  and  addi- 
tion, sought  to  present  the  complete  unity  of  the  Pentateuch. 

That  such  collected  originals  were  the  foundation  of  these  books  needs  no  argument. 
But  that  Moses  himself  distributed  the  materials  into  three  parts,  appears  from  the  great  sig- 
nificance of  this  organic  three-fold  unity  with  its  Messianic  impress,  from  the  designation  of 
the  tabernacle,  not  for  Levitical  but  for  ethical  legislation,  as  well  as  from  the  break  in  the 
whole  construction  before  the  death  of  Moses.  It  is  particularly  to  be  remarked  that  the 
three  legislations  manifest  their  theocratic  truth  by  their  interdependence;  either  by  itself 
would  present,  judged  by  common  rules,  a  distorted  form. 

That  these  three  books  were  made  by  dividing  up  a  larger  book  which  enclosed  within 
itself  that  of  Joshua,  is  a  modern  scholastic  view  without  any  proof.  As  regards  the  distinc- 
tion between  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  portions,  it  may  have  some  importance  for  Genesis. 
But  maintaining  the  great  importance  of  the  revelation  in  Exod.  vi.,  thenceforth  the  distinction 
between  the  two  names  must  rest  only  on  internal  relations,  not  upon  portions  to  be  critically 
distinguished.  For  instance,  when,  from  the  calling  of  Moses  (Ex.  iii.)  and  from  the  inter- 
course of  Jehovah  with  him  (Exod.  vi.)  it  is  asserted  that  this  is  a  compilation  from  two  dif- 
ferent accounts,  the  assertion  is  made  at  the  expense  of  the  internal  relations  of  the  text, 
which  plainly  show  a  perfectly  logical  progress  from  one  section  to  the  other.  In  consequence 
of  the  decided  refusal  of  Pharaoh  to  let  the  people  of  Israel  go  for  a  religious  festival  in  the 
desert,  and  on  account  of  the  increasing  oppression  of  the  people  which  brought  them  to 


i  8.    HISTORICAL  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS.  11 

despair,  Jehovah  as  the  covenant-God  of  Israel  comes  forth  in  the  full  glory  of  His  name. 
With  this  new  significance  which  He  gives  to  His  name,  He  repeats  previous  promises  (Exod. 
iii.  8-15)  and  assures  the  redemption  of  the  people  by  great  miracles  and  judgments,  and 
their  admission  into  a  peculiar  covenant  relation.  That  the  first  general  account  anticipates 
some  particulars  of  the  second  transaction  is  not  an  argument  against  it. 

In  view  of  the  totality  of  the  Mosaic  legislation  the  fundamental  law  asserts  itself,  that 
as  already  mentioned,  the  essential  parts  are  in  the  highest  degree  interdependent.  Moses, 
a<i  the  author  of  the  decalogue  only,  would  no  longer  be  Moses  ;  but  a  system  of  offerings 
which  was  not  founded  upon  this  ethical  basis,  would  seem  to  be  an  institution  of  sorcery. 
The  preparations  recorded  in  the  book  of  Numbers,  without  these  conditions  precedent,  would 
have  to  be  regarded  as  measures  for  a  conquest  of  the  world  by  war.  The  proof  of  this  com- 
pact organism  of  the  Pentateuch  is  the  complete  interdependence  of  the  separate  parts. 

For  the  sources  of  tho  Pentateuch,  especially  of  these  three  boots,  see  Hleek,  Introd.  to 
Old  Test.  The  various  views,  see  in  "  Uebersicht  der  verschiedenen  YorstcUungen  uher 
Ursprung  und  Zusammensctzung  dcs  Pentateuchs,"  page  172.  According  to  Ewald,  tho 
Mosaic  sources  are  difficult  to  disentangle.  The  defenders  of  a  single  authorship  aro 
indicated  in  IIautwig'3  Tabellen,  pp.  23,  29.  Comp.  BuxsEx'3  Bibdwerk,  2  Abtheilung, 
Bibclurkunden,  p.  108. 

?  8.  HISTORICAL  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  THKEE  BOOKS. 
77ie  Range  of  this  ITistory. 

Chronology. — In  these  books  of  the  Pentateuch  we  have  narrated  the  history  of  tho 
birth  of  the  people  of  Israel  up  to  its  complete  development  as  a  nation.  As  the  tyi>ical  his- 
tory of  the  people  of  Clod,  it  is  a  miniature  of  the  birth  of  Christianity.  The  course  of  the 
history  begins  with  the  theocratically  noble  origin  of  the  people,  and  continues  until  they  be- 
hold their  inheritance,  the  promised  land.  Betwixt  these  is  the  history  of  an  obscure  embry- 
onic condition,  in  which  they  gradually  become  a  people,  though  at  the  same  time  they  sink 
deeper  and  deeper  into  slavery,  and  of  a  birth  as  a  nation  in  the  midst  of  severe  pangs,  by 
which  redemption  is  accomplished,  and  which  is  then  confirmed  by  the  discipline  of  the  law 
and  God's  guidance  of  them  through  the  desert,  where  the  old  generation  dies  away  and  a 
new  generation  grows  up. 

The  narrative  is  joined  to  Genesis  by  the  recapitulation  of  the  settlement  of  Israel  in 
Egypt,  and  of  the  death  of  Joseph,  and  continues  to  the  time  of  the  encampment  in  the  plain 
of  Moab,  shortly  before  the  death  of  Moses.  According  to  "Exod.  xii.  40,  tho  Israelites  dwelt 
in  Egypt  four  hundred  and  thirty  ye.irs.  To  this  must  be  added  the  sojourn  in  the  desert, 
forty  years  (Numb.  xiv.  33 ;  xxxii.  13).  The  whole  period  of  this  history  is  therefore  four 
hundred  and  seventy  years.  But  out  of  this  long  period  only  a  few  special  points  are  marked. 
The  origin  of  the  people  dates  from  the  death  of  Joseph  to  the  commencement  of  the  oppres- 
sion. Of  this  interval  we  learn  nothing.  It  is  a  period  covered  with  a  veil  like  that  which 
covered  tho  birth  of  Ciiristiauity  from  the  close  of  the  Pauline  epistles  to  the  great  perse- 
cutions of  the  second  century. 

The  duration  of  Israel's  oppression  cannot  be  accurately  defined ;  it  began  at  an  unknown 
date,  which  preceded  tho  birth  of  Moses  and  continued  till  his  mission  to  Pharaoh.  Tlicu 
Moses  was  eighty  years  old,  and  Aaron  was  eighty-three  years  old  (Exod.  vii.  7).  To  this 
must  be  added  the  forty  years  of  tho  march  in  the  desert  (besides  the  period  in  which  Egyp- 
tian plagues  occurred),  and  accordingly  Moses  at  his  death  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  yeara 
old  (Deut.  xxxiv.  7).  That  Moses  was  forty  years  old  when  he  fled  into  tho  wilderness,  and 
then  lived  in  tho  wilderness  forty  years  with  Jethro  (Acts  vii.  23-30)  is  the  statement  of  Jew- 
ish tradition.    See  Comm.,  1.  c. 

The  undefined  period  of  the  Egyptian  plagues,  which  from  their  connection  followed  one 
another  quickly,  is  terminated  by  the  date  of  the  exodus.  The  period  from  the  departure 
from  Egypt  to  Sinai,  and  from  Sinai  through  the  desert  to  Kadesh,  is  clearly  marked.  Do- 
j)arture'on  the  14th  (ISth)  Abib  or  Nisan  (Exod.  xii.  17) ;  arrival  at  Sinai  in  the  third  month 
(Exod.  xix.  1 ) ;  departure  from  Sinai  on  the  20th  day  of  the  2d  month  of  the  2d  year  (Numb. 


12  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  COOKS. 

X.  11) ;  arrival  at  Kadesh  Barnea  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran  in  the  2d  year  (the  spies'  forty 
days,  Numb.  xiv.  34) ;  abode  at  Kadesh  (Numb,  xxi,  1 ;  Deut.  i.  46)  to  the  arrival  at  the 
East  bank  of  the  Jordan  thirty-eight  years.  In  the  fortieth  year  of  the  exodus  they  came  to 
Mount  Hor,  where  Aaron  died  on  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  month  (Numb,  sxxiii.  38).  On 
the  first  day  of  the  eleventh  mouth  of  the  fortieth  year,  Moses  delivered  his  parting  words  to 
Israel  (Deut.  i.  3). 

Goethe  was  therefore  right  when  he  said  that  Israel  might  have  reached  Canaan  in  two 
years.  But  he  did  not  understand  God's  chastisement,  nor,  we  may  add,  the  human  saga- 
city of  Moses,  which  together  occasioned  a  delay  of  thirty-eight  years.  And  so  Goethe's  de- 
nial of  Moses'  talent  as  a  ruler  is  a  proof  that  he  utterly  misunderstood  the  exalted  and  sanc- 
tified worldly  wisdom  of  Moses.  But  quite  in  accord  with  Goethe  the  Israelites,  agaiust  the 
will  of  Moses,  did  make  an  attempt  to  take  possession  of  Canaan  (Numb.  xiv.  40). 

The  endeavor  to  fill  up  the  obscure  interval  between  the  death  of  Joseph  and  the  history 
of  Moses  by  the  supposition  of  revelations  proceeds  from  the  idea  that  Old  Testament  reve- 
lation must  be  made  continuous,  agreeing  with  the  continuity  of  the  biblical  books.  But 
this  would  obliterate  the  distinction  between  periods  and  epochs  made  in  Old  Testament 
history,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  import  of  revelation  at  chosen  times.  It  is  only  through  a 
perception  of  the  spiritual  rhythm  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  (of  the  distinction 
between  the  xi'"^'0',  in  which  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day,  and  the  koi/jo/,  in  which  a  day 
is  as  a  thousand  years)  that  we  reach  an  understanding  of  the  great  crises  of  revelation. 
fecHlLLEE's  words:  "es  gibt  im  Menschenleben  Augenbliclce,"  etc.,  may  be  paraphrased  thus: 
there  are  moments  in  human  life  when  it  is  nearer  than  at  other  times  to  the  spirit  of  reve- 
lation, to  eternity,  to  the  other  world.  Concerning  the  strictures  of  De  Wette,  Yatke,  and 
Beuxo  Bauer  on  the  "great  chasm  "  in  the  chronology,  see  Kurtz's  Hist,  of  Old  Covenant, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  21.  Yet  in  that  obscure  interval  came  forth  the  special  significance  of  the  name 
Jehovah  as  already  mentioned. 

On  making  the  length  of  the  sojourn  in  Egypt  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  see  this 
Comm.  on  Gen.  xv.  13.  This  Comm.  on  Gen.  xiii.  Delitzsch,  Gen.,  p.  371.  This  Comm. 
Acts  vii.  In  relation  to  the  various  readings  in  the  Septuagiut,  Samaritan  Codex,  and  in 
Jonathan  (the  sojourn  in  Egypt  430-215  years),  see  Kurtz,  Hist,  of  the  Old  Covenant,  Vol. 
II.,  p.  135,  as  well  as  concerning  the  statement  of  Paul  (Gal.  iii.),  which  Kurtz  explains 
by  his  citation  of  the  Septuagint,  while  we  date  from  the  end  of  the  time  of  promise.  The 
objections  which  are  made  to  the  chronology  of  the  Septuagint  see  examined  in  Kurtz  as 
above.  On  the  amazing  conjectures  of  Baumgaeten,  see  Kurtz,  Vol.  II.,  p.  143.  Accord- 
ing to  BuNSEN,  the  limit  of  the  sojourn  in  Egypt  is  too  short;  according  to  Lepsius  it  was 
only  ninety  years. 

We  compute  as  follows :  the  whole  sojourn  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years.  The 
thirty  years  were  not  counted  because  the  oppression  did  not  immediately  begin ;  therefore 
four  hundred  years  of  oppression.  But  as  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  (Gal.  iii.)  are 
apparently  counted  from  Abraham,  it  would  appear  that  the  period  in  which  the  promises 
were  made  to  Abraham  and  the  patriarchs  ended  with  the  death  of  Jacob. 

Egyi>t. 
For  the  description  of  this  land,  where  the  Israelites  became  a  nation,  we  must  refer  the 
reader  to  the  literature  of  the  subject,  particularly  to  the  articles  on  Egypt  in  Wixee's  Bill. 
HealwoHerhuch ;  ZEhhER's  Bibl.  Worterbuch  (Egypt) ;  Herzog's  Beal-Encyclojj&die  ;  BuN- 
SEN,  Egjjpt's  Place  in  History  ;  Hengstexeerg,  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,  with  Appen- 
dix, Berlin,  1841 ;  Uhlemann^  Thoth,  oder  die  Wissemchaften  der  alten  Egypter,  Gottingen, 
1855 ;  Ebers,  Egypten  und  die  Biicher  Moses',  Vol.  I.,  Leipzig,  1868 ;  Brugsch,  Eeiscbcrichle 
ausEgypten,  Leipzig,  1855;  Brugsch,  Die  Egyptische  Grdbervelt,  ein  Vortrag,  Leipzig.  1868; 
Sam.  Shaepe,  History  of  Egypt,  2  Vols.,  London,  1870 ;  A.  Knoetel,  Cheops,  der  Pyramiden- 
erbauer,  Leipzig,  1861 ;  Travels,  Schubert  [see  also  the  maps  in  the  Ordnance  Survey  under 
direction  of  Sir  Henry  James,  F.  E.  S.],  Strauss,  Sinai  und  Golgotha,  etc.    See  the  bibliog- 


I  8.    HISTORICAL  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS.  13 

raphy  of  the  subject  in  Kuetz,  Mist,  of  the  Old  Covenant,  Vol.  II.,  p.  380.  Also  in  Danz, 
Egypt,  Egyptians. 

For  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Israel  in  Egypt  one  must  consult  the  maps,  etc. 
Kiepert,  Atlas  der  alien  Welt ;  Henrj'  Lange,  Bible-atlas  in  Bunsen's  Bibelwerk ;  Chart  and 
Conspectus  of  the  written  characters  in  Beugsch.  Reiseberichte.  Loxg's  Classical  Atlas, 
New  York,  ISO". 

God's  providential  arrangement  that  Israel  should  become  a  nation  in  Egypt  is  shown 
by  the  following  plain  proofs: 

1.  The  people  must  prosper  in  that  foreign  land,  and  yet  not  feel  at  home.  This  was 
brought  about,  first,  by  a  government  which  knew  Joseph,  that  is,  by  national  gratitude ;  then 
by  a  government  which  knew  not,  or  did  not  wish  to  know  Joseph,  and  which  made  the 
sojourn  in  Egypt  very  oppressive  to  the  people. 

2.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  people  was  favored  by  the  great  fertility  of  Egypt,  which 
not  only  supplied  abundant  food,  especially  to  a  pastoral  people  living  by  themselves,  but 
also  revealed  its  blessing  in  the  number  of  births. 

3.  A  people  who  were  to  be  educated  to  a  complete  understanding  of  the  great  antithesis 
between  the  blessing  and  the  curse  in  divine  providence  could  be  taught  in  Eg>-pt  better 
than  elsewhere  to  know  the  calamities  attendant  upon  the  curse.  Hero  too  were  found  the 
natural  prerequisites  for  the  extraordinary  plagues  which  were  to  bring  about  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  i)eople  from  slavery. 

4.  The  capacity  of  Israel,  to  receive  in  faith  the  revelations  of  salvation  and  to  mani- 
fest them  to  the  world,  needed  as  a  stimulus  of  its  development,  contact  and  attrition  with 
the  various  civilized  nations  (Egypt,  Syria,  Assyria,  Phanicia,  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece, 
Eome).  The  first  contact  was  pre-eminently  important;  by  it  the  people  of  faith  were  pre- 
pared by  an  intercourse  during  centuries  with  the  oldest  civilized  nation.  Their  lawgiver 
was  educated  in  all  the  wisdom  of  Eg>-pt,  and  the  conditions  of  culture  for  the  development 
of  the  religion  of  promise  as  a  religion  of  law,  the  knowledge  of  writing,  education  in  art, 
possession  of  property,  etc.,  formed  a  great  school  oC  instruction  for  the  people  of  Israel. 
The  external  culture  of  the  theocracy  and  the  Grecian  culture  of  aesthetics  grew  from  the 
same  stock  in  Egj-pt. 

5.  And  yet  tiie  national  as  well  as  the  spiritual  commingling  of  the  people  with  Egypt 
must  be  precluded.  The  people  were  preserved  from  a  natioual  commingling  by  the  antijia- 
thy  between  the  higher  Egyptian  castes  and  that  of  shepherds,  and  by  Israel's  separate  abode 
in  Goshen,  as  well  as  by  the  gloomy,  reserved  character  of  the  Copts  and  by  the  constantly 
increasing  jealousy  and  antagonism  of  the  Egj-ptians.  The  spiritual  commingling  was  ob- 
viated by  the  degradation  of  the  Egyptian  worship  of  animals  and  the  gloominess  of  their 
worship  of  the  dead  to  a  people  who  had  preserved  though  but  an  obscure  tradition  of  mono- 
theistic worship  of  God.  That  the  people  were  not  altogether  free  from  the  infection  of 
Egyptian  leaven  is  shown  by  the  histor>'  of  the  golden  calf;  yet  this  infection  was  in  some 
degree  refined  by  a  knowledge  of  the  symbolic  interpretations  held  by  the  more  cultured 
classes  of  Egypt,  for  the  golden  calf  was  intended  to  be  regarded  as  a  symbol,  not  as  an  idol, 
as  was  the  case  ia  later  times  among  the  ten  tribes. 

Israel  in  Egypt,  the  Hijhsos,  Pharaoh. 

The  date  when  the  Israelites  settled  in  Egypt  has  been,  in  earlier  and  later  times, 
variously  given,  and  with  this  indcfiniteness  of  times  has  been  joined  the  relation  of  Israel 
to  the  Hyksos  mentioned  by  the  Egyptian  historians,  who  migrated  into  Egj'pt,  and  were 
afterwards  driven  out. 

For  the  Biblical  Chronology  we  refer  to  the  exhaustive  article  by  Roesoh  in  Heezog's 
Eeal-Encyclopddie.  "Among  chronologists  who  accept  the  scriptural  accounts  Scalioer, 
Calvisius  and  Jacob  Capi'EL  place  the  exodus  in  1-497,  Petavius  in  1531,  Marsham  in 
1487,  Usher  in  1491,"  etc.  De  Wette  makes  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  to  be 
from  1921  to  1491  B.  C.  (Biblitche  Archaologie,  p.  28).  Various  computations  are  found  in 
the  treatises,  Biblische  Chronologic,  Tubingen,  1857 ;  Beckee,  Eine  Karte  der  Chronolonie 


14  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  COOKS. 

der  Heiligen  Schri/t,  Leipzig,  1859 ;  V.  GnrsCHMlD,  Beitrdge  zur  Geschichle  des  Alien  Orients 
sur  Wurdigung  von  Bunsen's  Egypten,  Bd.  4  and  5.  The  chronology  of  Maxetho  is  exhaus- 
tively treated  by  Ungee,  Chronologie  des  Manelho,  Berlin,  1867. 

Some  chronologists  of  the  present  day  by  the  combination  of  Egyptian  traditions  have 
arrived  at  results  very  different  from  the  above.  According  to  Lepsids  {see  Kurtz,  Vol. 
II.  409),  the  Hyksos  came  into  Egypt  as  conquerors  about  the  year  2100  B.  C,  and  after  a 
sojourn  of  five  hundred  and  eleven  years  were  driven  back  to  Syria.  "After  this  about  two 
hundred  years  pass  away  before  the  Immigration  of  the  Israelites  into  Egypt,  which,  as  well 
as  their  exodus  about  a  hundred  years  after,  took  place  under  the  nineteenth  dynasty." 
Sethos  I.  (1445-1394,  by  the  Greeks  called  Sesostrls)  was  the  Pharaoh  under  whom  Joseph 
came  to  Egypt:  his  son  Kamses  II.,  Mlamun  the  Great  (1394-1328),  was  the  king  at  whose 
court  Moses  was  brought  up;  and  his  son,  Menephthes  (1328-1309),  the  Amenophls  of  Jose- 
phus,  was  the  Pharaoh  of  the  exodus,  which  took  place  in  the  year  1314.  See  the  remarks 
by  KuETZ  and  this  Coram.,  Introd.  to  Genesis. 

According  to  BuxsEN  [Bibelwerl:,  Bibelurkunden  Theil  I.,  2  111),  the  Israelites  lived  in 
Egypt  many  hundred  years  before  their  enslavement.  Then  a  few  centuries  more  passed 
until  the  oppression  culminated  under  Eamses  II.,  and  under  King  Jlenophthah  (1324^1305) 
the  exodus  took  place.  Here  Biblical  Chronology  Is  made  entirely  dependent  on  conjec- 
tures in  Egyptology.  It  does  not  speak  well  for  the  infallibility  of  the  research,  that  one 
requires  only  ninety  years,  the  other  about  nine  hundred  years,  for  the  sojourn  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  Egypt. 

In  this  connection  the  following  questions  are  to  be  considered : 

1.  What  is  the  solution  of  the  difference  between  the  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  as 
given  in  Exodus  and  the  period  shortened  by  the  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years  of  the  patri- 
archs, 08  given  by  the  Septuagint  and  the  Samaritan  codex? 

2.  What  is  the  solution  of  the  statement  of  the  Bible  that  the  building  of  Solomon's  tem- 
ple was  begun  four  hundred  and  eighty  years  after  the  exodus  of  the  children  of  Israel  out 
of  Egypt  (1  Kings  vi.  l)f 

3.  What  relation  does  the  history  of  the  Israelites  bear  to  the  account  by  Maxetho  of 
the  Hyksos  and  the  lepers? 

As  to  the  first  question,  we  refer  to  the  ejtplanation  in  this  Comm.,  Genesis  xv.  14. 
Comp.  Kurtz,  Vol.  II.,  p.  133.  As  to  the  second  question,  see  this  Comm. ;  The  Books  of 
Kings  by  Baehr,  1  Kings  vl.  1.  The  reconciliation  of  this  statement  with  other  chronolo- 
gical statements  of  the  Bible  is  found,  first.  In  the  view  that  many  of  the  periods  mentioned 
in  the  Book  of  Judges  are  to  be  regarded  as  contemporaneous ;  second,  in  the  indefiniteness 
of  the  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  the  judges  (Acts  xlil.  20). 

The  third  question  has  become  the  subject  of  various  learned  conjectures.  The  account 
of  Manetho  concerning  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  and  the  lepers  from  Egypt  seems  hith- 
erto to  have  obscured  rather  than  Illustrated  the  history  of  Israel  in  Egypt.  According  to 
the  first  account  of  the  Egyptian  priest  Maxetho  (Josephus,  c.  Apion  I.  14),  people  from 
eastern  lands  Invaded  Egypt  under  King  TImaus,  conquered  the  land  and  Its  princes,  and 
ruled  five  hundred  and  eleven  years.  They  were  called  Hyksos,  that  is,  shepherd-kings. 
At  the  end  of  this  period  they  were  overcome  by  a  native  king,  and  finally  having  capitu- 
lated, were  driven  out  of  their  fortress,  Avaris,  by  the  king's  son  Thummosis.  They  then 
retreated  through  the  desert  to  Syria,  settled  in  Judea,  and  there  built  a  city  (Hlerosolyma) 
which  could  hold  their  entire  host  (240,000  persons).  Josephus  referred  this  tradition  to 
the  exodus  of  the  Israelites. 

The  second  account  of  Maxetho  fells  of  an  expulsion  of  the  lepers  [e.  Apion,  I.  26).  Ame- 
nophls, an  Imaginary  king,  desired  to  see  the  gods.  He  was  commanded  by  another  Ameno- 
phls first  to  clear  the  country  of  all  lepers.  From  all  Egypt  he  collected  them,  eighty  thou- 
sand in  number.  The  king  sent  them  first  into  the  eastern  quarries,  later  into  the  city 
Avaris,  where  the  Hyksos  were  said  to  have  entrenched  themselves.  A  priest  from  Heliopolis, 
chosen  by  them,  taught  them  customs  which  were  opposed  to  those  of  the  Egyptians.  Then 
be  called  the  Hyksos  from  Jerusalem  to  a  united  struggle  against  the  Egyptians.    King 


8.    HISTORICAL  FOUXDATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


Amenophis  marched  against  the  united  forces  with  300,000  men.  But  fearing  the  gods,  he 
retired  to  Ethiopia,  while  the  enemy  committed  the  greatest  atrocities  in  Egypt.  The  priest 
(Osarsiph )  who  led  the  lepers,  now  called  himself  Moses.  After  thirteen  years  Amenophis  came 
with  Ethiopian  confederates,  defeated  the  shepherds  and  the  lepers,  and  pursued  them  to  the 
Syrian  boundary  (see  the  full  account  in  Kurtz,  v.  2,  pp.  3S0-429). 

These  utterly  fabulous  stories  are  well  fitted  as  a  stage  for  the  higher  learning.  According 
to  Josephus  and  many  others,  the  Hyksos  were  the  Israelites,  according  to  others  the  Hyksos 
lived  with  the  Israelites,  and  if  so,  according  to  one  view,  they  were  the  protectors  and  de- 
fenders of  Israel,  according  to  an  opposite  view,  they  were  the  oppressors  of  Israel  (Kurtz, 
Tol.  2,  p.  380).  According  to  Lepsius,  the  Hyksos  were  expelled  two  hundred  years  before 
the  immigration  of  the  Israelites.  According  to  Saalschutz,  the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  in 
the  EedSea,  and  the  destruction  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Hyksos,  occurred  at  the  same  time; 
but  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  took  place  later. 

In  a  careful  consideration  of  the  stories  of  Manetho  great  difBculties  arise  against  every 
conjecture.  If  the  Hyksos  left  Egypt  for  Jerusalem  before  the  Jews,  then  history  must  show 
some  trace  that  the  Jews  in  their  march  through  the  wilderness  to  Palestine  came  upon  this 
powerful  people  who  preceded  them  in  migration.  If  the  Hyksos  left  Egypt  after  the  Isra- 
elites, then  the  Hyksos  in  their  journey  to  Jerusalem  must  have  met  with  the  Israelites. 
Finally,  if  these  pastoral  people  were  together  in  Egj'pt,  the  shepherd-kings  could  not  have 
preserved  an  entire  separation  from  the  Jewish  shepherds.  Kurtz  supposes  that  the  Hyk.so3 
were  Canaanitcs,  and  the  immigration  of  Israel  took  place  under  their  supremacy.  He  also 
finds  in  the  legend  of  the  lepers  a  reference  to  the  Israelites,  a  view  which  requires  some 
modification,  if  Manetho's  connecting  the  lepers  with  the  Hyksos  points  to  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count that  a  mixed  multitude  joined  themselves  to  the  departing  Israelites. 

Hen'GSTESBErg,  in  his  work  "  Egj-pt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,"  with  an  appendix,  "Mane- 
tho and  the  Hyksos,"  opposes  the  prevailing  view  that  Manetho  was  the  chief  of  the  priesthood 
in  Heliopolis,  the  most  learned  in  Egypt,  and  wrote  the  history  of  Egypt  by  order  of  king 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  using  the  works  which  were  found  in  the  temple.  His  reasons  are 
the  following :  evidences  of  striking  ignorance  of  Egyptian  mythology,  of  geography,  elc, 
remarkable  agreement  of  his  account  of  the  Jews  with  the  statements  of  writers  like  Chaere- 
mon,  Lysimachus,  Apion,  Apollonius  Molo,  all  of  whom  lived  under  the  Roman  empire. 
There  are  no  other  witnesses  who  corroborate  his  statements.  Manetho  was  a  forger  of  later 
times,  like  Pseudo-Aristeas.  In  later  times  there  was  a  large  number  of  Jews  who  cast  off 
their  nationality,  only  retaining  the  national  pride  and  antipathies,  of  whom  Apion  was  an 
example.  Accordingly  Hengstesbeug  holds  the  view,  "  that  the  Hyksos  were  no  other  than 
the  Israelites,  that  no  ancient  Egj'ptian  originals  formed  the  basis  of  Maxetiio's  accounts,  but 
that  the  history  preserved  by  the  Jews  was  transformed  to  suit  Egyptian  national  vanity." 

If  we  grant  the  statements  concerning  the  historical  character  of  Manetho  it  is  still  pos- 
sible that  there  arose  in  Egypt  false  traditions  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  and  of  their 
exodus.  It  is  easily  conceivable  that  the  national  pride  of  the  Egyptians  did  not  perpetuate 
this  history,  as  it  really  was,  on  their  monuments  :  and  it  is  just  as  conceivable  that  the  un- 
pleasant tradition  of  this  history  was  transformed  in  accordance  with  Egyptian  interests  and 
with  different  points  of  view.  The  legend  of  the  Hyksos  intimates  the  origin,  mode  of  life, 
and  power  of  the  Israelites,  that  by  them  great  distress  came  upon  Egj'pt,  and  that  tiiey  went 
away  to  Canaan  and  founded  Jerusalem,  while  the  legend  of  the  lepers,  to  please  Egyptian 
pride  and  hatred,  has  made  of  the  same  history  a  fable.  The  names  Avaris  and  Hierosolym  ', 
as  well  as  other  marks,  prove  that  these  two  legends  are  very  closely  connected.  A.  Knoetel 
in  his  treatise  "  Cheops  "  presents  a  peculiar  construction  of  Egyptian  history,  which  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  supposition  of  the  unlrustworthiness  of  JIaxetho.  That  the  shepherd  kings 
came  from  Babylon,  and  imposed  upon  the  Copts  the  building  of  the  pyramids  and  the  wor- 
ship of  the  dead,  is  a  surprising  statement  in  a  work  showing  great  research. 

That  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  Egypt  is  shown  in  the  Pentateuch,  is  proved  by 
Hengstesbeug  with  great  learning  in  the  work  quoted  above.  He  has  also  manifested  un- 
deniable impartiality,  as  his  departures  from  the  orthodox  traditions  prove  in  his  history  of 


10  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

the  sacrifice  of  Isaac,  of  Balaam,  of  Jephthah's  daughter,  and  in  the  paragraphs  on  "The  signs 
and  wonders  in  Egypt,"  "  Traces  of  Egyptian  customs  in  the  religious  institutions  of  the 
books  of  Moses."  That  his  purpose  was  apologetic  cannot  obscure  the  worth  of  these  inves- 
tigations. 

The  influence  which  Egyptian  art  and  science  must  have  exerted  upon  the  culture  of  the 
Israelites,  as  well  as  the  antagonism  between  Israelitish  and  Egyptian  character,  has  been 
treated  in  a  summary  way  by  Sam  Shakpe  in  his  History  of  E'jypt*  How  much  the  Israel- 
ites owed  to  Egypt  in  respect  to  science  and  art  is  an  interesting  chapter  in  ancient  history  ; 
and  here  something  should  be  said  on  the  relation  of  the  religion  of  Egypt  to  that  of  Israel. 
Moses,  whose  name  is  Egyptian,  and  means  "son  of  water,"  was  brought  up  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Heliopolis,  the  chief  school  of  Egyptian  philosophy,  and,  according  to  the  legend, 
received  through  Jannes  and  Jambres  most  careful  instruction  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians,  while  many  Israelites  had  given  themselves  to  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  the 
land.  This  is  the  reason,  according  to  iManetho,  why  so  many  Egyptian  customs  are  expressly 
forbidden  in  the  Mosaic  law,  whilst  others,  which  were  harmless,  are  accepted  in  it.  A 
comparison  of  the  customs  of  both  nations  would  throw  much  light  upon  their  relative  posi- 
tions. The  grand  purpose  of  the  separation  of  the  Israelites  from  other  nations  was  the  un- 
equivocal maintenance  of  monotheism.  Moses  therefore  declared  that  the  gods  which  were 
commended  to  the  veneration  of  the  ignorant  masses  by  the  Egyptian  priests  were  false  gods. 
The  Egyptians  worshipped  the  stars  as  the  representatives  of  the  gods,  the  sun  by  the  name 
Ea,  the  moon  as  Job  or  Isis  ;  but  among  the  Israelites  a  worshipper  of  any  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  was  stoned.  Among  the  Egyptians  sculpture  was  the  great  support  of  religion ;  the 
priests  had  the  god  hewn  out  in  the  temple,  and  there  prayed  to  it ;  they  worshipped  statues 
of  men,  of  irrational  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes ;  but  the  Israelites  were  forbidden  to  bow  down 
before  a  chiseled  or  carved  image.  Egyptian  priests  shaved  off  their  hair,  but  the  Israelites 
were  forbidden  to  make  a  bald  place,  or  even  to  cut  the  ends  of  the  beard.  The  inhabitants 
of  lower  Egypt  cut  marks  on  their  bodies  in  honor  of  their  gods,  but  the  Israelites  were  for- 
bidden to  cut  their  flesh  or  to  make  any  marks  in  it.  The  Egyptians  put  food  in  the  grave 
with  the  corpses  of  their  friends,  and  on  their  behalf  sent  presents  of  food  into  the  temples  ; 
but  the  Israelites  were  forbiddenf  to  put  any  food  with  a  corpse.  The  Egyptians  planted 
groves  in  the  courts  of  their  temples  (like  the  later  Alexandrine  Jews  in  the  courts  of  their 
synagogues) ;  but  the  Mosaic  law  forbid  the  Israelites  to  plant  any  tree  near  the  altar  of  the 
Lord,  The  sacred  bull,  Apis,  was  chosen  by  the  priests  of  Memphis  on  account  of  black 
color  and  white  spots,  and  Mnevis,  the  sacred  bull  of  Heliopolis,  bore  nearly  the  same  marks ; 
but  the  Israelites  were  ordered  in  preparing  the  water  of  purification  to  take  a  red  heifer, 
perfect  and  young.  Circumcision  and  abstention  from  swine's  flesh  was  common  to  both 
Egyptians  and  Israelites;  but  the  Egyptians  offered  swine's  flesh  to  Isis  and  Osiris,  and  ate 
of  it  once  a  month,  on  the  day  after  the  full  moon,  after  the  sacrifice. 

In  addition  to  their  knowledge  of  nature,  the  Egyptian  wise  men  were  acquainted  with 
sorcery  and  magic,  which  they  used  for  the  deception  of  the  common  people.  When  Moses 
came  before  Pharaoh  with  signs  and  wonders,  their  magicians  imitated  him  in  some  cases' 
The  Egyptian  sorcerers  and  magicians  exerted  a  great  and  often  injurious  influence  on  the 
spirit  of  the  nation;  they  spoke  as  if  they  were  the  messengers  of  heaven;  an  abuse  which 
two  thousand  years  after  the  law  could  hardly  restrain,  though  it  condemned  to  punishment 
any  who  asked  their  advice.  But  the  Mosaic  law  empowered  the  people  to  punish  those  who 
would  seduce  them,  and  commanded  them  to  stone  any  who  practised  magic  or  witchcraft. 

We  must  now  speak  of  some  things  which  the  Israelite  law-giver  borrowed  from  the  land 
he  left.  The  Egyptians  inscribed  the  praises  of  their  kings  and  gods  on  the  inner  and  outer 
sides  of  the  walls  of  their  buildings,  and  in  the  same  manner  the  Israelites  were  commanded 
to  write  the  chief  commands  of  their  law  upon  the  posts  of  their  doors  and  gates.  The  Egyp- 
tians adorned  the  carved  images  of  their  gods  with  wings;  the  Israelites  were  commanded  to 
place  at  each  end  of  the  ark  a  cherub  with  outstretched  wings.    In  a  picture  of  a  religious 

*  [I  hiivo  bceu  uuable  to  verify  this  reference  in  the  last  edition  of  Shakpe's  Eipjpl.—^.  0.] 
t  [Is  not  the  author  mistaken  as  to  any  prohibition  of  this?— H.  0.] 


?  8.    HISTORIGVL  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS.  17 

procession  in  the  time  of  Kameses  III.,  there  is  a  representation  of  a  statue  of  the  god  Chem 
being  carried,  which  measures  two  and  a  half  cubits  in  length,  and  one  and  a  half  cubit  in 
height,  agreeing  in  form  and  measure  with  the  ark  which  the  Israelites  made  for  the  taber- 
nacle. AVhen  the  Israelites  in  the  desert  were  bitten  by  serpents,  Moses  made  a  serpent  of 
copper,  and  fastened  it  upon  a  pole,  that  those  bitten  might  look  upon  it  and  be  healed ; 
similar  serpents  are  often  seen  on  Egyptian  standards ;  and  finally,  when  the  Israelites  fell 
into  idolatry,  and  demanded  that  Aaron  should  make  them  a  god,  he  made  them  a  golden 
calf,  the  same  animal  they  had  frequently  seen  worshipped  at  Heliopolis  under  the  name 
Mnevis,  and  which  they  themselves  perhaps  had  worshipped. 

The  Israelites  brought  with  them  from  Egypt  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  writing,  and  in 
the  perfection  of  the  alphabet  and  the  mode  of  writing,  as  well  as  the  more  important  matters 
of  religion  and  philosophy,  they  soon  surpassed  their  teachers.  The  Egyptian  hieroglyphics, 
at  first  representing  syllables,  made  no  further  progress  except  that  later  they  were  used  as 
phonetic  signs  of  syllables.  In  the  enchorial  character  (current  hand)  on  papyrus,  the  more 
clumsy  signs  were  omitted,  and  all  strokes  were  made  of  equal  thickness  by  a  reed  pen.  Un- 
fortunately Egyptian  religion  forbade  all  attempts  at  change  or  reform,  and  therefore  in  all 
ornamental  and  important  writings  the  hieroglyphics  were  retained,  which  otherwise  would 
probably  have  been  changed  to  signs  of  letters.  The  enchorial  writing  was  used  only  in  cur- 
rent hand;  but  it  never  reached  the  simplicity  of  a  modern  alphabet.  The  Hebrew  square 
characters  were  derived  directly  from  the  hieroglyphics,  and  the  world  owes  it  to  the  He- 
brews that  instead  of  writing  in  symbols  an  alphabet  was  formed  by  which  a  sign  expresses 
a  sound.  The  Israelites  admired  the  grand  buildings  of  the  Egyptians,  but  made  no  attempt 
to  imitate  them.  They  early  saw  the  great  pyramids,  and  might  have  known  when  and  how 
they  were  built,  but  they  probably  satisfied  themselves  with  the  remark,  that  giants  built 
them.  That  Israelite  religion  and  philosophy  were  not  derived  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile 
appears  from  the  following:  among  the  Israelites  there  was  no  encouragement  to  trade,  for 
the  taking  of  interest  was  forbidden  by  law;  women  were  not  permitted  to  be  priests;  the 
reward  of  the  good  and  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  w.T3  not,  as  among  the  Egyptiiins,  ex- 
pected after  death,  but  here  on  earth  ;*  religious  mysteries  were  as  foreign  to  the  Israelites  as 
to  the  Egyptians  the  thought  that  the  earth  could  be  deluged  by  rain.  In  general,  Helio- 
polis, from  its  close  connection  with  Ch.aldea,  received  far  more  science  and  instruction  from 
Babylon  than  it  returned  thither.  On  the  similarity  between  Egyptian  and  Israelite  cus- 
toms comp.  Thoth  by  Uhlemaxx,  p.  7.  Ebers,  Egypten  und  die  Biicher  Moses,  Vol.  I., 
Leipzig,  1SG8. 

Growth  of  Israel  in  Egypt. 

If  we  regard  the  sojourn  of  Israel  in  Egypt  as  so  short  in  duration  as  Lepsius  would 

•  [This  is  tho  common  Tiow,  but  It  docs  not  acvonl  with  Bomo  of  tho  rlninest  facts  of  revclntion.  At  tho  beginning  of 
the  Pentateuch  stands  the  account  of  tho  death  of  Abel  by  tho  hands  of  Cain.  Accepted  as  righteous  by  God  (Gen.  It.  4; 
Heb.  li.  4),  tho  younger  brother,  for  no  crime  on  his  part,  is  murdered  by  the  elder;  and  this  murderer,  though  under  a 
cnrse,  lives  to  become  tho  head  of  a  long  iine  of  descendants,  who  enjoy  in  rich  abundance  tho  good  things  of  this  world. 
Tho  righteous  is  cut  olT  in  early  youth.  Tho  wicked  lives  in  security  and  wealth.  If  thoro  wcro  no  other  revelation  on 
this  subject  in  the  Pentateuch,  this  account  would  bo  sufllcient  to  teach  ovcry  believer  in  Godj  who  is  just,  that  His  re- 
words and  puniehmoDts  are  not  confined  to  this  world,  but  must  bo  expected  beyond  death.  Enoch  was  righteous  bcforo 
God,  but  ho  had  not  lived  to  half  the  age  of  the  other  patriarchs  before  tho  Flood  when  he  was  tmnslatcd.  Was  his  reward 
hero  ?  Heb.  %\.  6,  6.  Tho  expectations  of  Abraham.  Isaac  and  Jacob,  as  to  their  reward,  were  utterly  deceived,  if  they  were 
confined  to  this  world.  And  what  was  tho  reward  of  Moses  on  earth  t  He  tells  us  in  the  90th  Psalm  that  after  threo-scoro 
years  and  ten  tho  strength  of  man  is  "  labor  and  sorrow ;"  and  in  Deuteronomy  he  rehearses  to  tho  people  the  pangs  of  tho 
burden  he  had  borne  in  leading  tho  people,  and  declares  that  death  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan  was  to  be  his  punish- 
mont  for  his  sin  at  Meribah.  No,  all  these  patriarchs  prove  by  their  lives  the  truth  of  Paul's  words  respecting  all  believeni 
tliat  "if  in  this  life  only  wo  have  hope  In  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  Their  latter  days  must  have  been 
shrouded  in  impenetrable  gloom  if  they  looked  for  their  reward  here— and  in  that  gloom  tho  promise  of  God  must  have  va. 
nishcd  for  them  and  for  us.  But  the  Now  Testament  plainly  says  thot  all  these  men  were  men  of  faith.  "Now  faith  is  as- 
surance of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction  of  things  not  seen.  For  by  It  the  elders  obtained  a  good  report.  •  •  •  •  •  But 
without  faith  it  is  Impossible  to  please  God;  for  he  that  comoth  to  God  must  believe  that  lie  is,  and  thot  He  Is  a  Itewarder 
of  those  who  diligently  seek  Ilim."  Hob.  xl.  1,  2.  6.  Jcsns  says  tho  doctrine  of  tho  resurrection  was  taught  by  Mosea 
(Matt.  xxii.  32;  Ex.  111.  6),  and  the  Epistle  to  tho  Hebrews  asserts  that  both  Abraham  and  Moses  believed  It  (Heb.  xi.  IJ- 
19,  26).  The  only  rational  solution  of  their  lives  Is  a  belief  in  rewards  and  punishments  after  death.  The  earliest  revela- 
tion, in  the  first  four  chapters  of  Oeaeals,  was  enough  by  Itself  to  establish  this  faith.— H.  0.] 


18  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

make  it,  then  it  would  not  have  been  possible  in  that  time  for  Jacob's  family  to  become  a 
great  nation.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  accept  twice  the  length  of  time  given  in  the 
Bible  it  would  be  questionable  whether  the  people,  through  so  long  an  oppression,  could 
have  preserved  their  Jewish  peculiarities  and  religious  traditions,  as  in  this  interim,  they 
were  left  to  natural  development  on  the  basis  of  patriarchal  revelation.  "  It  has  been  argued 
from  1  Sam.  ii.  27  that  there  was  not  an  interruption  of  divine  revelation  during  the  stay  in 
Egypt.  But  the  argument  is  unsound.  The  meaning  of  the  words,  '  I  plainly  appeared  unto 
the  house  of  the  fathers,  when  they  were  in'^  Egypt,  in  Pharaoh's  house,'  etc.,  is  fully  ex- 
hausted if  we  suppose  them  to  refer  to  the  last  year  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  there. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  a  strong  proof  that  religious  consciousness  was  kept  alive  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  that  in  so  many  of  the  proper  names  which  were  given  during  that  period 
(Numb,  iii.)  the  name  of  God  is  found  as  one  of  the  component  parts."  Kubtz,  Vol. 
II.,  p.  177. 

Moses  found  existing  among  his  people  an  organization  of  the  tribes,  heads  of  tribes, 
who  as  elders  exercised  authority  in  their  tribes  (Ex.  iv.  29).  The  religious  zeal  which  Levi 
first  manifested  in  fanaticism  (Gen.  xxxiv.)  seems  to  have  remained  in  a  purer  form  in  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  as  appears  from  the  call  of  Moses,  from  the  course  of  the  sons  of  Levi  at  the 
punishment  of  the  idolatry  of  the  golden  calf,  and  from  the  blessing  of  Moses. 

A  tendency  of  the  Jews  to  dispersion,  the  opposite  pole  to  their  strong  coherence  in  their 
peculiarities,  in  its  loftier  motive  prefigured  by  the  emigration  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xii.),  first 
shows  itself  in  the  separation  of  Judah  (Gen.  xx.wiii.),  and  seems  to  have  been  felt  fre- 
quently during  the  settlement  of  the  Israelites  in  Goshen.  Concerning  an  earlier  emigra- 
tion (1  Chron.  vii.  21)  of  some  of  the  sons  of  Ephraim  to  Canaan,  and  a  coloniz.ation  of  some 
of  the  sons  of  Judah  in  Moab  (1  Chron.  iv.  22),  comp.  Kurtz,  vol.  2,  p.  177.  The  Danites  in 
the  time  of  the  Judges  (Judg.  xviii.)  left  their  home  and  conquered  the  city  Lais  in  northern 
Canaan,  and  gave  to  it  the  name  Dan.  Later  the  tribe  of  Simeon  left  their  narrow  bounds 
within  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  disappear  among  the  other  tribes  (1  Chron.  v.)  :  a  circum- 
stance which  throws  light  on  the  last  statement  of  the  tradition  in  the  blessing  of  Moses  in 
which  Simeon's  name  is  wanting.  Even  in  Egypt  many  Israelites  seem  to  have  exchanged 
their  home  in  Goshen  for  settlements  among  the  Egyptians,  for  in  this  way  alone  could  arise 
the  familiar  relations  with  Egyptian  neighbors,  which  appear  in  the  presents  to  the  Jews  of 
articles  of  silver  and  gold.  Similar  to  the  tax-gatherers  under  the  Romans  in  the  time  of 
Christ  were  the  Jewish  scribes  and  bailiffs  whom  the  Egyptians  obtained  among  the  Jews 
themselves  to  confirm  their  despotic  rule  over  them.  In  like  manner  the  two  midwives,  who 
probably  were  the  heads  of  a  class  of  midwives  (Ex.  i.  15),  are  described  as  Hebrews. 

I  9.  MOSES. 
Comp.  the  articles  under  this  title  in  Wixer,  Heezog,  Zeller  {hibl.  Wbrterhuch),  and 
the  index  of  the  literature  further  on.  We  regard  as  the  peculiarity  of  Moses,  legal  consci- 
entiousness in  a  highly  gifted  nature  under  the  leading  of  the  revelation  of  God.  Hence  he 
stands  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  as  kq-'  Kox'iv,  the  servant  of  God  in  contrast  to 
the  Son  in  the  house,  who  in  a  yet  higher,  the  very  highest  sense,  was  the  servant  of  God 
(Heb.  iii.).  Hence  his  renunciation  of  the  world  is  based  upon  his  "  respect  to  the  recom- 
pense of  the  reward  "  (Heb.  xi.  26).  As  a  champion  of  the  law,  but  in  misunderstanding  of 
the  law,  he  smote  the  Egyptian  (Ex.  ii.  12) ;  then  he  became  the  protector  of  the  oppressed 
women  in  the  desert.  For  forty  years  he  maintained  his  faith  clear;  then  he  thought  he 
had  failed  of  the  conditions  of  his  call,  and  felt  that  by  the  wrath  of  God  he  w.as  brought 
near  to  death  because  his  Midianite  wife  had  probably  long  been  a  hindrance  to  the  circum- 
cision of  his  sons  (Ex.  iv.  24).  It  is  specially  remarkable  that  though  he  governed  the  people 
in  the  desert  with  a  strong  hand  by  the  law,  he  condemned  himself  because  for  an  apparently 
small  omission  or  transgression  (Numb.  xx.  12)  he  saw  prescribed  by  Jehovah  his  great 
punishment,  which  indeed  he  prescribed  for  himself,*  that  he  should  not  with  the  people 

*  [There  is  no  warrant  for  this  in  Numb.  xx.  12;  xxvii.  14;  Deut  xxxii.  51,  62;  Psalm  cvi.  3.3,  or  elsewhere,  that  I  am 
awai«  of.  Moses*  death  was  not  brought  aboat  by  his  remorse,  but  was  accomplished  as  Go  J  had  foretold  and  by  God.— H.O.J 


I  9.    MOSES. 


enter  the  land  of  promise.  This  is  the  legal  conscience  of  an  eminently  ethical  mind.  Moses 
thus  stands  in  strong  contrast  to  a  fanatical  spiritualization,  which,  like  the  company  of 
Korah,  would  anticipate  New  Testament  relations,  as  well  as  to  the  soulless  perversion  of  the 
law  into  mere  rules,  else  he  could  hardly  have  broken  the  first  tables  of  the  law,  or  have 
come  down  with  the  second  tables  from  Sinai  with  his  face  shining,  or  in  the  original  docu- 
ments forming  the  basis  of  Deuteronomy,  have  drawn  the  lines  of  a  spiritual  inter- 
pretation of  the  law.  Aaron,  who  could  play  the  fanatic  (Ex.  xxxii.  5),  as  a  man  of  mere 
legal  rules,  together  with  Miriam,  at  times  opposed  Moses  (Numb.  xii.).  As  the  fiiithful 
steward  of  the  law,  Moses  stands  in  harmonious  contrast  to  the  Gospel  economy ; 
only  a  temporary  and  intermediate  evangelist,  who  on  Sinai  (Ex.  xxxiv.)  had  heard  Jeho- 
vah's exposition  of  His  name ;  the  faithful  theocrat,  who  by  law  and  symbol  pointed  to 
Christ  (Numb.  xi.  29). 

As  nature  points  beyond  itself  to  the  region  of  spirit,  as  the  law  points  beyond  itself  to 
the  Gospel  and  its  royal  law  of  freedom  (.lames  i.  25  ;  ii.  8),  the  law  of  the  Spirit  (Rom. 
viii.),  so  the  mediator  of  the  divine  law  points  beyond  himself  to  the  Prophet  of  the  future 
(Deut.  xviii.  15).  At  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  his  declaration  of  the  ethical  law  in  the  de- 
calogue there  are  the  germs  of  the  coming  law  of  freedom,  "  who  brought  thee  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage,"  "  thou  shalt  not  covet." 

Besides  Moses'  relation  to  Christ  we  must  mark  within  the  Old  Testament  his  relation 
to  Elijah  and  Elisha.  Elijah  is  the  Old  Testament  counterpart  of  Moses  on  the  side  of  legal 
retribution ;  but  Elisha  is  the  expounder  of  Moses  as  to  the  spirituality  of  the  law,  its  gentle- 
ness and  mercy,  the  coming  gospel. 

The  grandeur  of  the  genius  of  Moses  appears  in  striking  contrasts,  pre-eminently  in  the 
contrast  of  his  firm  conscientiousness  with  his  prophetic  power  as  a  seer ;  then  in  the  contrast 
of  his  eminent  worldly  wisdom,  with  his  inner  spiritual  life ;  in  the  contrast  of  his  delicacy 
with  his  heroic  vigor;  in  the  contrast  of  his  deep  sensitiveness  to  the  signs  of  the  curse  and 
the  signs  of  the  blessing;  and  finally  in  the  opposite  traits  of  the  mildest  humanity,  yea,  of 
priestly  self-sacrifice  (Ex.  xxxii.  11,  31 ;  Numb.:  the  laws  of  humanity)  and  of  the  inexora- 
ble firmness  of  the  law-giver  (Ex.  xxxii.  27;  Numb.  xiv.  28;  chap.  xiv.). 

That  Moses  should  not  be  identified  with  Jewish  superficial  legality,  with  the  letter  of 
the  law  that  "  killeth,"  though  as  a  national  law-giver  he  was  compelled  to  exercise  specially 
the  office  of  death  (2  Cor.  iii.  7),  that  this  w.ts  not  his  whole  office  (as  Luther  would  lead  us 
to  infer),  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  by  the  side  of  the  ethical  law  he  has  placed  the  law 
of  atonement,  the  theocratic  reform  of  the  traditional  law  of  offerings.  And  that  he  did  not 
intend  to  establish  a  real  hierarchy  is  proved  by  his  laying  the  basis  of  civil  rights,  the  first 
article  of  which  regulates  the  emancipation  of  slaves.  We  judge  the  Papacy  too  leniently 
and  wrongfully  when  we  a.ssert  that  it  is  a  return  to  the  Old  Testament  priesthood— a  priest- 
hood that  would  absorb  utterly  all  prophecy  and  all  political  authority! 

Among  the  great  law-givers  of  antiquity  Moses  stands  in  solitary  grandeur.  He  alone 
gave  to  others  tlie  two  most  popular  offices  in  national  life :  the  Ligh-priesthood  to  Aaron, 
the  chief  command  of  the  army  to  Joshu.i.  As  prophet  he  points  beyond  himself  and  his 
institutions  to  the  future;  he  does  not  obliterate  the  hope  of  the  future  which  Abraham  had 
impressed  upon  his  religion,  but  filled  it  with  life  and  unfolded  it  chiefly  through  symbols. 
But  it  was  the  Spirit  of  God  who,  in  addition  to  his  great  genius,  and  by  means  of  special 
direction,  made  him  capable  of  these  great  things.  The  common  characteristic  of  all  mighty 
men  of  God  and  of  faith,  who  made  known  the  revelation  of  God,  unconquerable  patience 
and  endurance,  the  sign  of  the  victorious  perseverance  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  especially  of 
Christianity,  as  it  appeared  in  many  individuals,  the  firmness  of  No.ih,  Abraham,  Jeremiah, 
but  pre-eminently  the  patient  and  long-suffering  perseverance  of  the  Lord,  these  also  appear 
in  typical  traits,  and  though  imperfect,  yet  in  peculiar  beauty,  as  the  special  marks  of  the 
character  of  Moses.  Hence  in  his  old  age  a  single  act  of  impatience,  reflecting  the  severely 
punished  impatient  act  of  his  ^rlier  years,  was  sorely  requited,  though  this  single  false  step 
was  go  turned  by  God  as  to  give  to  his  life  a  solemn  and  glorious  ending  on  the  eve  of  entei- 


aO  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

ing  Canaan  (Deut.  xxsiv.).    He  was  not  allowed  to  pass  into  obscurity  behind  Joshua,  the 
general,  or  to  close  his  life  without  solemnity  at  an  unimportant  time. 

Finally  there  is  one  trait  in  the  character  of  Moses  to  be  considered  which  has  been 
almost  entirely  overlooked,  because,  in  the  interest  of  an  abstract  supranaturalism,  or  of  a 
criticism  which  resolves  them  into  myths,  his  miracles  have  been  discussed  without  respect 
to  their  means.  If  we  believe  in  a  charism,  that  is,  that  a  gift  of  nature  is  always  the  basis 
of  a  gift  of  grace,  and  this  gift  of  nature  becomes  a  charism  by  being  purified  and  inspired 
by  the  Spirit  of  grace,  we  will  find  this  synthesis  constantly  appearing  in  heroic  proportions 
in  the  sphere  of  revelation.  And  accordingly  it  was  a  sense  of  nature  grand  and  deep,  an 
instinctive  sensibility  for  nature  which  Jehovah  made  the  exponent  of  His  revelations  in 
nature  in  Egypt  and  the  wilderness,  the  miracles  of  Moses.  For  if  every  scriptural  miracle 
is  a  miracle  both  of  knowledge  and  of  power,  then  in  the  miracles  of  Moses  there  is  surpass- 
ing knowledge,  a  piercing  into  the  depths  of  nature  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  opened  to 
him.  His  power  is  a  dauntless  trust  in  God,  by  which  he  lifts  his  rod,  which  accomplishes 
the  miracle,  not  as  by  magic,  but  as  a  symbol,  pointing  to  the  strong  arm  of  the  Lord.  With 
respect  to  Moses'  knowledge  of  the  deep  things  of  nature,  we  can  distinguish  his  knowledge 
of  natural  history,  of  the  earth,  of  geology,  of  psychology,  and  of  the  laws  of  health;  but 
each  of  these  the  Spirit  of  revelation  had  made  a  charism. 

§  10.    THE   DESERT  AI^D  THE   MIDIANTTES. 

It  seems  to  be  a  primary  law  of  the  divine  economy  and  instruction  that  the  people  of 
God  should  be  born  in  servitude  and  brought  up  in  the  desert  (Hos.  ii.  14;  ix.  10).  For  not 
only  did  the  nation  of  Israel  come  forth  from  the  house  of  bondage  and  take  its  stamp  in  the 
desert,  but  also  Israel's  reformation  after  the  Babylonian  captivity  under  Ezra,  its  second 
Moses ;  and  Christians  grew  to  be  the  people  of  God  under  the  despotism  of  the  old  world 
and  in  the  great  desert  of  asceticism,  and  the  Christian  Reformation  was  compelled  to  pass 
through  servitude  and  the  desert.  For  the  German  Reformation  the  desert  was  prepared  by 
the  devastations  of  the  thirty  years'  war ;  the  French  Reformation  received  its  purification 
in  the  Church  of  the  desert. 

As  the  land  arose  out  of  the  earlier  formation  of  the  sea  (Gen.  i.),  so  the  deserts,  like  the 
steppes,  appear  to  have  come  forth  by  changes  in  the  formation  of  the  sea,  as  though  they 
were  bottoms  of  seas,  rocky,  stony,  salt  and  sandy  plains,  without  water  or  vegetation.  The 
old  world  is  to  a  large  extent  covered  with  deserts,  and  the  Arabian  desert,  with  which  we 
are  concerned,  with  its  many  parts  and  projections,  is  pre  eminently  the  desert  (see  Winek, 
Worterbuch),  having,  in  connection  with  the  great  stretch  of  desert  from  the  northwest 
coast  of  Africa  to  northern  Asia,  two  great  wings,  the  desert  of  Sahara  in  North  Africa  and 
the  desert  of  Zobi  in  Northern  Asia.  The  desert  is  nearly  allied  to  the  region  of  the  dead, 
to  Hades ;  it  forms  dead  places  of  the  living  earth,  and  is  the  place  of  death  to  many  pil- 
grims who  attempt  to  cross  it.  Yet  water  has  won  for  itself  many  parts  of  the  desert  (as 
the  earth  has  won  a  portion  of  the  sea  by  the  formation  of  islands),  steppe-like  pasture-lands, 
real  shepherds'  commons  ("^313)  and  spice-bearing  oases.  The  most  remarkable  conquest 
has  been  that  of  the  Nile,  the  father  of  Egypt,  over  the  desert  on  its  right  and  left  bank. 
The  Red  Sea  also  intersects  the  desert. 

As  to  the  configuration  of  the  Arabian  desert,  we  refer  to  the  articles  in  the  lexicons  on 
the  desert  and  Arabia,  as  well  as  to  the  most  important  narratives  of  travels  and  to  maps. 

The  Midianites,  to  whom  Moses  fled,  and  among  whom  he  was  prepared  for  his  calling, 
seem  to  have  been  a  nomadic  branch  of  an  Arabian  tribe,  descendants  of  Abraham  and  Ke- 
turah  (Gen.  xxv.  2-4),  which  had  its  home  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Elanitic  gulf,  where 
the  ruins  of  the  city  of  Madian  still  testify  to  their  settlement,  and  which  carried  on  the 
caravan-trade  between  Gilead  and  Arabia,  from  eastern  lands  to  Egypt,  whilst  another 
branch  extended  eastward  to  the  plain  of  Moab.  Thus  they  became  closely  interwoven  with 
the  history  of  the  Jews.  Midianite  merchants  brought  Joseph  as  a  slave  to  Egypt;  with  the 
nomad  Midianite  prince,  Jethro,  Moses  found  a  refuge  for  many  years;  and  Jethro  exerted 
important  influence  even  in  the  organization  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  assisted  the  mis- 


2  10.    THE  DESERT  AND  THE  MIDIANITES.  21 

sion  of  Moses  by  a  fatherly  care  for  his  fiimily  (Ex.  xviii.).  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  the 
Midianites  who,  in  league  with  the  Moabites,  by  means  of  their  wanton  idolatrous  festivals, 
almost  brought  the  people  of  Israel  to  destruction  (Num.  ch.  xxv.  and  xxxi.),  so  that  Moses 
found  it  necessary  to  talte  vengeance  on  the  Midianites,  that  his  people  might  be  freed  from 
their  customs,  as  they  previously  had  been  freed  from  Egj'ptian  customs  by  the  passage 
through  the  Red  Sea.  Again,  later  in  the  time  of  the  Judges  they  were  a  scourge  of  the 
Israelites,  from  which  the  Israelites  were  delivered  by  the  victory  of  Gideon  (Judg.  ch.  vi. 
and  8).  In  Isaiah  Ix.  6  a  nomad  Midianite  people  is  mentioned,  part  of  whom  were  peace- 
ful shepherds  in  the  desert,  and  others  formed  a  band  of  Arabian  robbers.  Comp.  the  art. 
"  Midian  "  in  Wixee  and  Kortz  II.  192. 

The  March  through  the  Desert. 

For  a  comprehensive  synopsis  of  the  literature,  see  Kurtz  II.  360 ;  Be^m,  Israels  Wan- 
derung  von  Oosen  bis  zum  Sinai,  Elberfeld,  1851 ;  Ebees,  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  Leipzig, 
1872. 

From  the  Indian  Ocean  the  Arabian  gulf  stretches  north-westwardly,  and  divides  Asia 
from  Africa  until  it  reaches  the  isthmus  of  Suez.  Its  eastern  side  bounds  Arabia,  and  its 
vrestern  side  bounds  Ethiopia,  Nubia  and  Egypt.  On  the  north  it  branches  fork-like ;  the 
left  prong,  the  Sea  of  Sedge,  or  the  Hero  opolitanic  Gulf,  extends  towards  the  Mediterranean 
with  which,  as  is  shown  by  the  Bitter  lakes  and  a  Mediterranean  gulf,  it  is  loosely  connected, 
while  the  right  prong,  the  Gulf  of  Akabeh,  or  the  Elanitic  gulf,  seems  by  a  long  reach  to  seek 
the  Dead  Sea,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  the  long  ravine  of  the  Arabah.  Between  the 
two  gulfs  is  the  Arabian  desert,  through  which  lay  a  great  part  of  the  journey  of  the  Israel- 
ites. This  journey  was  first  along  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  and  then  by  the  west  shore  of  the  Ela- 
nitic gulf,  and  through  the  Arabah  to  Kadesh ;  then  it  returned  to  the  head  of  the  Elanitic 
gulf.  The  smaller  division  of  the  journey  begins  with  the  crossing  of  the  Arabali  at  the 
head  of  the  gulf,  in  order  to  pass  around  the  mountains  of  Seir  and  in  the  plains  of  Moab  to 
exchange  the  toil  of  the  pilgrim  for  the  march  of  war. 

In  the  adjustment  of  the  minute,  but  not  very  clear  accounts  of  the  journey  through 
the  desert  (Ex.  ch.  xiv.-19;  Deut.  x.  12-21,  33),  we  must,  as  Vox  Raumer  rightly  remarks, 
distinguish  between  days*  journeys  and  encampments  or  days  of  rest,  as  well  as  between 
mere  encampments  and  long  settlements.  So  also  we  must  distinguish  between  the  stations 
of  the  encampments  of  the  people  and  the  marches  of  the  army. 

It  seems  also  very  important  to  distinguish  between  the  two  sojourns  of  the  army  (not 
of  the  mass  of  the  people)  in  Kadesh.  The  true  key  for  the  solution  of  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  the  determination  of  the  stations  appears  to  be  in  Deut.  i.  46 :  "  So  ye  abode  in  Kadesh  " 
(again)  "many  days,"  " according  unto  the  days  that  ye  abode  there,"  (DH??''  '^^?.  °'9'!p.' 
oaa^  TTOTE  7iijlf>ac  iveKa^rjaSe).  The  Vulgate  has  only  "  multo  tempore."  According  to  Kno- 
BEL  this  means:  they  remained  still  in  Kadesh  a  long  time,  to  wit,  just  as  long  as  they  did 
remain.  But  we  prefer  to  translate :  equal  to  a  time  ye  wished  to  make  it  your  abiding  resi- 
dence. The  two  sojourns  in  Kadesh  will  not  seem  so  improbable,  if,  as  according  to  Von 
Raumer's  map,  the  people  twice  went  over  the  route  from  the  Elanitic  gulf  to  Kadesh.  la 
Deut.  i.  46  we  are  told,  the  Israelites  at  the  first  time  left  Kadesh  to  pass  into  Palestine ;  but 
when  they  were  smitten  by  the  Amorites,  they  settled  in  Kadesh  (Num.  xx.  1). 

The  first  division  of  the  whole  journey  in  the  Arabian  desert  extends  to  the  first  settle- 
ment of  Israel  in  Kadesh  in  the  desert  of  Paran  (Num.  xiii.  1 ;  Deut.  i.  19).  The  sections 
of  this  journey  are  as  follows:  1.  Journey  from  Rameses  to  Succoth  and  Etham,  and  turning 
in  the  direction  of  Pi-hahiroth  on  the  sea-shore;  2.  Passage  through  the  sea  and  journey  to 
the  encampment  in  Elim ;  3.  From  Elim  to  Sinai,  and  encampment  before  Sinai  (Ex.  xiii. 
17 — xix.  1) ;  4.  Departure  from  Sinai,  and  journey  parallel  with  the  western  coast  of  the 
Elanitic  gulf  to  Hazeroth  and  to  Kadesh  in  the  desert  of  Paran  (Num.  x.  12 — xiii.  1) ;  5. 
Certain  incidents  of  the  first  settlement  in  Kadesh ;  the  spies ;  the  insurrection  of  the  people 
against  Moses ;  the  decree  of  God  that  that  generation  should  die  in  the  desert,  and  that  the 


22  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

wandering  should  last  forty  years  (Num.  xiv.  3-i) ;  the  fool-hardy  march  of  the  people  and 
their  rout  to  Hormah,  to  which  the  supplementary  account  returns  (Num.  xx.  1) :  "  And  the 
children  of  Israel,  the  whole  congregation,  came  into  the  wilderness  of  Zin;"  so  that  they 
returned  from  Hormah  back  again  to  Kadesh.  The  second  division  of  the  journey  through 
the  desert  includes  the  obscure  thirty-eight  years'  abode  in  Kadesh  (Deut.  i.  46).  The  de- 
cree of  Jehovah  was  fulfilled  in  this  period.  After  this  comes  the  journey  to  Mount  Hor, 
the  chain  of  mountains  forming  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Arabah  (Num.  xx.  23),  and 
not  lying  in  the  laud  of  Edom.  After  that  Moses  was  compelled  by  the  threatening  attitude 
of  the  Edomites  to  give  up  the  attempt  to  reach  the  eastern  side  of  the  Dead  Sea  from  Ka- 
desh across  the  Arabah  (Num.  xx.  20).  The  death  and  burial  of  Aaron  on  Mount  Hor  (for 
another  name  of  the  place,  see  Dt.  x.  6)  necessitated  a  longer  sojourn  (Num.  xx.  29).  It  is 
again  related  that  the  king  of  the  Canaanites  at  Arad  fought  Israel  when  he  heard  that  they 
would  force  their  way  into  the  land  by  the  way  to  Atharim.  The  Vulgate  translates :  "  by 
the  way  of  the  spies,"  and  exegetically  this  is  doubtless  right ;  it  is  the  same  history  which 
is  told  in  Num.  xiv.  45,  as  appears  from  the  locality,  Hormah  (Num.  xxi.  3).  But  the  fact 
is  again  mentioned  because  with  it  is  joined  the  assertion  that  Israel  received  satisfaction  for 
this  defeat. 

The  first  countermarch  was  from  Etham  to  Pi-hahiroth,  the  second  from  Hormah  to 
Kadesh  and  Hor,  and  the  third  makes  a  complete  return  from  Hor  to  the  head  of  the  gulf 
of  Akabeh,  "to  compa.ss  the  land  of  Edom"  (Num.  xxi.  4;  Deut.  ii.  1).  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Elath  and  Ezion-geber  the  road  led  them  between  the  gulf  of  Akabeh  and  the  end 
of  the  Arabah  onwards  to  the  desert  of  Moab.  With  the  crossing  of  the  brook  Zered  the 
decree  of  the  wandering  was  accomplished,  and  therefore  the  whole  period  of  this  wandering 
is  stated  at  thirty-eight  years  (Deut.  ii.  14).  The  words  "  the  space  "  (of  time)  "  in  which  we 
came  from  Kadesh-barnea,"  plainly  indicate  the  first  departure  from  Kadesh  towards  south- 
ern Palestine,  and  the  second  long  sojourn  iu  Kadesh  is  included  in  the  thirty-eight  years. 
The  Israelites  were  not  to  pass  through  the  centre  of  Moab  (Deut.  ii.  18),  or  through  the  ter- 
ritory of  Ammon  (ver.  19).  From  the  wilderness  of  Kedemoth,  near  by  a  city  of  the  same 
name  iu  what  was  afterwards  the  territory  of  Keubeu,  the  conquests  begin.  The  embassy  to 
Sihon  at  Heshbon  asks  permission  for  a  peaceful  passage  through  his  land,  though  Moses 
foresaw  the  hostile  refusal  and  its  consequence,  as  he  had  when  he  asked  Pharaoh  to  permit 
the  people  to  go  into  the  desert  to  hold  a  feast  (Ex.  v.  1).  This  policy  is  justified  by  the 
consideration  that  the  grant,  though  highly  improbable,  would  have  obliged  the  grantor  to 
keep  his  word.  After  the  conquest  of  Heshbon  east  of  Jordan  over  against  Jericho,  northern 
Gilead  from  Wady  Arnon  to  Mount  Hermon  was  the  fruit  of  the  victory  over  Og,  King  of 
Bashan,  who  made  the  first  attack  (Num.  xxi.  33 ;  Deut.  iii.).  The  conquered  country  was 
apportioned,  and  the  army  returned  to  the  "valley  over  against  Beth-peor"  (Deut.  iii.  29; 
Num.  xxii.  1),  where  Moses  gives  his  last  orders  before  closing  his  course  in  mysterious  soli- 
tude on  Mount  Nebo  (Deut.  xxxiv.  6).  Here  at  Beth-peor,  or  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  the 
people  were  brought  into  great  danger  by  Balak,  the  King  of  Moab.  He  did  not  succeed  in 
cursing  Israel,  but  in  enticing  them  by  the  counsel  of  the  false  prophet  Balaam,  who  had 
just  before  been  made  to  bless  them  (Num.  xxxi.  8).  In  Beth-peor  they  were  near  to  the 
temple  of  their  idol,  where  obscene  idol  feasts  were  held.  The  enticement  was  accomplished 
by  the  Moabites  and  by  that  branch  of  the  Midianites  which  had  its  home  in  the  mountains 
to  the  east;  but  the  war  of  vengeance  which  Moses  ordered,  and  which  was  intended  to  pre- 
vent the  moral  degeneracy  of  the  young  generation  who  had  so  grandly  begun  their  mission, 
was  called  a  war  against  the  Midianites,  perhaps  in  tenderness  to  Moab.  The  war  was  con- 
cluded, and  Moses'  work  was  done. 

There  were  the  best  reasons  for  the  circuitous  marches  of  the  people.  For  the  first  cir- 
cuit the  reasons  are  given.  Had  they  gone  direct  through  the  desert  to  Canaan,  they  would 
have  been  compelled  to  fight  with  the  Philistines,  and  they  were  not  prepared  for  this  (Ex. 
xiii.  17).    In  addition  to  this,  there  was  a  second  purpose  in  the  counsel  of  God;  Israel  must 


I  10.    THE  DESERT  AND  THE  MIDIANITES. 


pass  through  the  Red  Sea,  that  thereby  destruction  might  come  on  Pharaoh  pursuing  them 
{Ex.  xiv.  1). 

For  the  second  circuit  there  are  also  two  reasons.  As  Israel  at  first  would  not  venture, 
even  with  Jehovah's  aid,  to  enter  southern  Palestine,  and  then  made  the  attempt  presump- 
tuously without  Jehovah,  and  was  punished  with  defeat,  their  courage,  the  courage  of  the 
old  generation,  was  broken.  But  when  the  new  generation  strove  to  march  through  Edom 
to  attack  Canaan  from  the  east,  they  were  forbidden  to  do  so  on  account  of  their  relationship 
to  Edom ;  and  hence  the  motive  for  their  great  circuit  and  return  to  the  Bed  Sea.  And 
again  they  must  make  detours  in  order  to  avoid  war  with  Moab  and  Ammon.  On  this 
m'arch  the  way  led  them  between  Moab  and  Ammon,  so  that  the  capital  of  Moab  was  on  the 
left  and  the  territory  of  Ammon  on  the  right. 

The  desert  through  which  Israel  passed,  Arabia  Petrsea,  is  divided  into  a  succession  of 
separate  deserts,  of  Shur,  of  Sin,  of  Sinai,  ofParan,  etc.,  stretches  of  sand,  of  gravel,  of  stones 
and  rocky  wastes. 

For  the  geography  of  Edom  and  the  lands  east  of  Jordan,  see  the  articles  Seir,  Moab, 
Ammon,  in  the  Bible  Dictionaries ;  and  the  numerous  books  of  travel.  Vox  Schubert, 
Strauss,  Palmer,  Tristam,  Porter,  Burton;  the  geographical  works  of  Kitter,  Dan- 
iel and  others,  especially  the  geography  of  Palestine  by  Von  Eaumer,  Eobinson  and 
others.  -    ,.    . 

On  the  difierences  in  the  indications  of  the  Unes  of  March,  comp.  Winer,  Arabi^che 
Wmie,  though  he  does  not  adhere  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Biblical  narrative.  In  order  to 
harmonize  these  statements,  we  must  suppose  that  the  list  (Num.  xx-xiii.)  contains  not  only 
the  encampments  and  day's  journeys,  but  also  lesser  way-stations,  and  we  must  .ilso  remem- 
ber the  oriental  custom  of  giving  sever.al  names  to  the  same  object,  and  in  addition,  there 
may  be  interpolations  in  places  not  well  understood. 

As  has  been  remarked,  there  were  two  sojourns  in  Kadesh,  but  not  as  they  are  usually 
conceived  from  a  misunderstanding  of  Num.  xiii.  1 ;  xx.  1,  and  xxxiii.  36.  The  station 
Moseroth  (Num.  xxxiii.  31)  must  be  identical  with  Mount  Hor,  where,  according  to  Num. 
xxxiii.  38  (comp.  Deut.  x.  6 ;  Num.  xx.  22),  Aaron  died,  and  if  we  accept  the  list  of  stations 
as  without  error  (Num.  xxxiii.),  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh  must  have  been  near  Moseroth 
(Num.  xxxiii.  31).  The  verses  36  to  40  appear  to  be  an  explanation  which  perhaps  was 
taken  from  the  margin  into  the  text.  AccorJiug  to  Num.  xxxiii.  31  the  Israelites  came  from 
Moseroth  to  Bene-jaakan ;  but  according  to  Deut.  x.  6,  they  came  from  Bene-jaakan  to  Mo- 
sera.  This  contradiction  is  solved  by  supposing  that  on  their  journey  northward,  they  came 
from  Moseroth  to  Bene-jaakan,  and  marching  southward,  they  removed  from  Beeroth  Bene- 
jaakan  to  Moseroth,  which  agrees  with  the  shorter  narrative.  It  appears  then  from  the 
parallel  accounts  that  Aaron  died  at  Mount  Hor  on  the  return  march  to  Moseroth,  and  fur- 
ther, that  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh  is  to  be  sought  in  the  well-watered  country  of  the  sons  of 
Jaakan.  It  is  also  plain  that  we  can  speak  as  truly  of  the  sojourns  in  Kadesh  as  of  one. 
There  were  two  sojourns  of  the  army  in  Kadesh,  since  after  its  march  from  Kadesh  towards 
Canaan,  it  was  brought  back  to  this  encampment;  but  the  mass  of  the  people  had  remained 
there.    The  following  is  the  list  of  stations  (Num.  xxxiii.)  and  the  parallel  Btatementa : 


FnoM  Rameses  to  Red  Sea,  Pi-hahieoih. 


Desert,  of  Sin. 


Succoth. 
Etham. 
Pi-hahiroth. 


Desert  of  Shur;  Marah. 
Elim. 

Desert  of  Sin,  between  Elim  and  Sinai 
(Quails  (anticipated  on  account  of  the  manna, 
Num.  xi.),  Manna,  Sabbath). 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 


3  TnENCE  TO  BeNE-JAASAN. 


8.  Feom  Sinai  TO  EzioN-GEBEE,i 
(Kadesh). 
Kibroth-hattaavah. 
Hazeroth. 
Eithmah. 
Eimmon-parez. 
Libnah. 
Eissah. 
Kehelathah. 
Mount  Shapher. 
Haradah. 
Makheloth. 
Tahath. 
Tarah. 
Mithcah. 
Hashmonah. 
Moseroth. 
Bene-jaakan  (Kadesh). 

4.  Feoh  Kadesh  to  Ezion-oebee. 
Hor-hagidgad  (Moseroth  ?). 
Jotbathah. 
Ebronah. 
Ezion-geber  (vers.  36-40,  later  addition). 


6.  Feoh  Ezion-gebee  oe  Modnt  Seie  on  its  East  Side  to 
boundae?  of  moab. 
Zalmonah. 
Punon. 
Oboth. 
Ije-abarim. 

6.  Feom  the  bocndaet  of  Moab  to  the  plains  of  Moab 
opposite  Jericho. 
Dibon-gad. 
Almon-diblathaim. 
Abarim  near  Nebo. 
Plains  of  Moab,  opposite  .Tericho. 


Num.  xi.    From  Sinai  to  Desert  of  Parau. 


Desert  of  Paran  and  Kadesh-bamea  (Deut.  L  19), 

especially  Zio  (Kadesh,  Deut.  i.  46). 
Kadesh-Hormah,  Num.  xiv.  45. 
Hormah-Kadesh. 


Brook  (Valley)  of  Zered. 

Beer. 
Mattanah. 
Nahaliel. 
Bamoth. 
Mount  Pisgah. 
Plains  of  Moab. 


The  statements  of  the  Book  of  Numbers  are  more  clearly  defined  by  those  of  Deutero- 
nomy. 

1.  General  direction  from  Horeb  or  Sinai  to  the  mount  of  the  Amorites  (Kadesh,  Deut. 
i.  6).     March  through  the  desert  to  Kadesh-barnea,  ver.  19. 

2.  Sortie  from  Kadesh  to  the  mount  of  the  Amorites.  Defeat  and  return  to  Kadesh. 
Settlement  there  for  a  long  time,  ch.  i.  43-46. 

3.  Return  by  Mount  Seir  to  the  Red  Sea,  chap.  ii.  1. 

4.  From  Elath  and  Ezion-geber  march  northward  on  the  eastern  side  of  Mount  Seir. 
March  through  desert  of  Moab,  chap.  ii.  8.  Passage  of  brook  Zered.  March  through  the 
boundary  of  Moab.  Avoidance  of  the  territory  of  the  Ammonites.  Passage  of  the  Arnon, 
chap.  ii.  24. 

Special  notice,  chap.  x.  6,  7,  concerning  Aaron  and  the  priesthood.  These  verses  appear 
to  be  an  interpolation,  as  ver.  8  refers  to  ver.  5.  At  this  time,  by  the  ordination  of  Eleazar, 
son  of  Aaron,  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  entrusted  with  the  priesthood,  chap.  x.  8.  Jlarch  from 
Beeroth-jaakan  (Kadesh)  to  Mosera  (Mount  Hor).  Thence  to  the  stations  Gudgodah  and 
Jotbath  (Hor-hagidgad  and  Jotbathah,  Numb,  xxxiii.). 

The  whole  narrative  is  made  clearer  by  the  well-founded  view  that  Mount  Hor  is  used  in 
a  wider  and  in  a  narrower  signification.  According  to  the  first,  it  signifies  the  range  of  Seir, 
while  the  Hor  on  which  Aaron  died  is  also  called  Moseroth,  near  Hor-hagidgad  or  Gudgodah. 
Similarly  Kadesh,  in  its  narrower  signification  (Kadesh-barnea)  must  be  distinguished  from 
Kadesh  in  its  wider  signification. 


?  n.    THE  SOJOURN  OF  THIRTY-EIGHT  TEARS  IN  KADESH.  25 

The  common  interpretations  make  the  people  to  have  marched  twice  from  Ezion-geber 
to  Kadesh,  and  twice  from  Kadesh  to  Ezion-geber.     This  contradicts  Deuteronomy. 

After  the  decree  of  Jehovah  that  the  old  generation  should  die  in  the  wilderness,  there 
could  be  no  purpose  in  the  people's  making  long  marches  hither  and  thither.  They  must 
have  moved  only  so  far  in  the  desert  of  Paran  around  the  central  point,  Kadesh,  in  the  de- 
sert of  Zin,  as  the  mode  of  life  and  the  sustenance  of  a  nomadic  people  required. 

On  the  question,  whether  Horeb  or  Serbal,  see  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen  sum  Sinai,  Leip- 
zig, 1872. 

I  11.    THE  SOJOUEN   OF  THIETY-EIGHT  YEARS  1^  KADESH. 

In  the  midst  of  the  marvellous  journey  through  the  desert  there  is  a  period,  like  that 
between  Joseph  and  Moses,  hidden  in  obscurity.  We  only  know  that  Jehovah  left  the  peo- 
ple to  their  natural  development,  so  that  the  old  generation  trained  in  Egyptian  servitude 
died  in  the  desert,  and  a  new  generation  of  brave  sons  of  the  desert  grew  up.  The  troubles 
of  Israel  correspond  to  this  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new  generation. 

The  sins  of  the  old  generation  are  pre-eminently  sins  of  despondency :  as  the  displeasure 
of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  at  the  mission  of  Moses  (Ex.  v.  21 ;  vi.  9) ;  the  lamentation  of  the 
people  at  Pi-hahiroth  (Ex.  xiv.  10,  11) ;  the  murmuring  at  the  bitter  water  of  Marah  (Ex. 
XV.  23,  24);  the  longing  for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt  in  the  desert  of  Sin  (Ex.  xvi.  3);  the 
murmuring  on  account  of  the  want  of  water  at  Massah  and  Meribah  (Ex.  xvii.  7) ;  the  flight 
of  the  people  from  the  mount  of  the  law  (Ex.  xx.  18) ;  the  cowardly  motive  in  setting  up  the 
golden  calf  (Ex.  xxxii.  1) ;  the  sin  of  impatience  (Numb.  xi.  1) ;  the  pusillanimous  longing 
for  flesh  to  eat  (Numb.  xi.  4-10) ;  the  perversion  of  the  law  to  a  mere  set  of  rules  by  Miriam 
and  Aaron  (Numb.  xii.  1) ;  finally  the  faint-heartedness  of  the  majority  of  the  spies  and  of 
the  whole  people  (Numb.  chap.  xiii. — chap.  xiv.  1  f.),  which  they  sought  to  atone  for  by  a 
presumptuous  attempt. 

During  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh  there  occurred  the  rebellion  of  Eorah's  company  (Numb, 
xvi.  1  f ),  the  rebellion  of  the  whole  people  (Numb.  xvi.  42),  and  the  second  rebellion  on  ac- 
count of  the  want  of  water  (Numb.  xx.  11).  Here  appears  a  youthful,  presumptuous  self- 
assertion.  The  old  generation  demanded  a  hierarchy  (Ex.  xx.  19) ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
new  generation  would  anticipate  the  universal  priesthood. 

The  sins  of  the  new,  strong  generation  that  marches  from  Kadesh  have  the  impress  of 
presumption.  At  first  they  were  vexed  because  of'the  way  and  the  food  (Numb.  xxi.  4,  5), 
and  they  were  punished  with  fiery  serpents.  Then,  later,  in  Shittim,  they  took  part  in  the 
idolatry  of  the  Moabites,  and  committed  whoredom  with  their  daughters  (Numb.  xxv.). 
Soon  after  this  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad  make  demands  for  separation,  which  only  the 
authority  of  Moses  suffices  to  direct  aright  (chap,  xxxii.). 

As  regards  the  long  middle  period  of  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh,  Kurtz  supposes  a  period 
of  defection  or  of  exclusion  for  thirty-eight  (Lehrhuch  dcr  heiligen  Geschichte,  p.  89)  or  thirty- 
seven  years  (Hist,  of  Old  Covenant).  "  The  theocratic  covenant  was  suspended,  and  therefore 
the  theocratic  history  had  nothing  to  record.  Circumcision,  the  sign  of  the  covenant,  was 
omitted ;  they  profaned  the  Lord's  Sabbaths,  despised  His  laws,  and  did  not  live  according  to 
His  commands  (Ezech.  xx.).  Burnt-ofl'erings  and  meat-offerings  they  did  not  bring,  but  they 
carried  the  tabernacle  of  Moloch  and  the  star  of  their  god  Remphan  (Saturn),  figures  which 
they  made  (Acts  vii.  43 ;  Amos  v.  25,  2(5).  But  the  Lord  had  compassion  on  the  outcasts,  and 
restrained  His  anger,  so  as  not  to  destroy  them.  He  fed  them  with  manna,  and  gave  them 
water  from  the  rock  to  drink."  KoRTZ,  in  his  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,  rightly  says,  that 
as  the  people  could  not  have  found  food  at  one  place  for  thirty-seven  years,  the  mass  of  the 
people  must  have  been,  after  the  decree  against  them,  scattered  in  small  bodies  over  the 
whole  (?)  desert,  and  must  have  settled  in  the  oases  found  by  them  until  by  the  call  of  Moses 
they  were  collected  again  at  Kadesh. 

But  we  must  distinguish  between  falling  away,  exclusion,  and  repentance.  A  people 
fallen  away  is  not  fed  with  manna  and  by  miracle  given  drink  from  the  rock.  A  peo- 
ple under  excommunication  is  not  disburdened  of  the  excommunication  by  a  promised  ter- 


26  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  TFIE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

mination  of  it.  A  repentant  people  is  not  one  falling  away.  As  regards  the  passage  quoted 
from  Ezekiel,  it  speaks  first  of  sins  in  Egypt  (chap.  xx.  8),  which  are  not  now  under  conside- 
ration; the  more  general  sins  in  the  desert  (ver.  13)  do  not  belong  here;  not  until  the  fif- 
teenth verse  is  there  an  obscure  hint  of  the  time  of  punishment  in  Kade.sh ;  and  ver.  21 
speaks  of  a  new  generation,  which  was  afterwards  delivered  to  the  service  of  Moloch  (vers. 
25,  26;  comp.  chap,  sxiii.  .37).  But  this  corruption  is  joined  with  the  worship  of  lust,  and 
hence  we  can  suppose  that  the  mention  of  it  refers  to  the  great  sin  in  Shittim.  To  the  same 
great  sin,  in  all  probability,  Stephen  refers  in  his  speech.  Acts  vii.,  where  he  quotes  the  pas- 
sage in  Amos.  That  the  sins  of  omission  of  the  sacrifices  and  meal-ofi'erings  and  circumcision 
were  general,  is  explained  by  the  temptations  of  their  trials  in  the  desert.  The  worship  of 
Moloch  and  that  of  Saturn  are  allied  as  the  gloomy  antithesis  of  the  more  cheerful  worship 
of  Baal  or  of  Jupiter,  and  yet  they  are  connected  with  them.  The  history  of  the  company  of 
Korah,  which  occurs  at  this  time,  shows  that  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  with  Israel  was  not 
suspended  at  this  period. 

For  the  position  of  Kadesh,  see  the  Lexicons  and  Travels  in  this  region. 

?  12.     EELIGIOUS  AXD  SYMBOLIC  MODE  OF  REPEESENTATION— ESPECIALLY  THE  POETICAL 
AND  HISTORICAL  SIDE  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 

In  general,  we  refer  to  what  was  said  in  this  Comm.  Introd.  to  Genesis.  But  we 
must  reiterate  that  the  religious  mode  of  representation  requires  repetitions  and  insertions 
which  are  foreign  to  a  scientific  exact  treatise ;  as,  for  instance,  the  mention  of  Aaron,  Deut. 
X.;  the  insertion  of  Kadesh,  Numb,  xxxiii.  36,  etc. 

More  important  is  the  consideration  of  symbolic  expression.  "We  have  before  ( Comm. 
Genesis,  page  23)  distinguished  it  plainly  from  the  mythical  and  the  literal.  It  cannot 
be  understood  without  a  perception  of  its  specific  character,  as  it  is  used  to  define 
clearly  («.  g.,  the  Nile  became  blood),  to  generalize  (bringing  the  quails),  to  hyperbolize 
(Egyptian  darkness),  but  constantly  to  idealize  (words  of  Balaam's  ass),  for  the  vivid  repre- 
sentation of  the  ideal  meaning  of  facts.  The  mythical  conception  disregards  not  only  the 
essential  constancy  of  the  facts,  but  also  their  perennial  religious  efiect ;  the  literal  concep- 
tion, on  the  other  hand,  disregards  entirely  their  ideal  meaning,  as  well  as  the  spirit  and  the 
mode  of  statement,  the  theocratic-epic  coloring.  Both  are  united  in  being  opposed  to 
the  peculiar  mysterious  character  of  revelation.  This  is  specially  true  of  the  miracles  of 
the  ilosaic  period. 

The  highly  poetic  and  yet  essentially  true  history  of  the  leading  of  Israel  to  Canaan  cul- 
minates on  its  poetical  side  in  its  songs  (Sack,  Die  Lieder  in  den  historischen  Buchern  des 
Alien  Testaments,  Barmen,  1864).  The  first  lyrical  note  in  Genesis  is  heard  in  God's  words 
on  the  destiny  of  man  {Comm.  Gen.  i.),  then  in  the  song  of  Lamech  and  in  other  portions. 
Again  we  hear  it  in  Moses's  song  of  redemption  (Ex.  sv.),  and  again,  after  the  afflictions  of 
the  old  generation,  it  awakes  with  the  new  generation.  In  close  connection  with  the  original 
poetic  works  [Book  of  the  Wars  of  the  Lord,  Numb.  xxi.  14)  come  the  songs  of  victory  and 
festival  (Numb.  xxi.  14,  15,  17,  18,  27-30) ;  the  blessings  of  Moses  (Numb.  vi.  24-27;  x.  35, 
86) ;  blessings  even  out  of  the  mouth  of  Balaam,  their  enemy.  The  crown  of  those  lyrics  is 
formed  at  the  close  of  Deuteronomy  by  the  two  poems,  the  Song  of  Moses  and  the  blessing 
of  Moses,  the  solemn  expression  of  the  fundamental  thought  of  the  whole  law,  especially  of 
Deuteronomy,  blessing  and  curse.  The  first  poem  is  well-nigh  all  shadow,  the  last  is  full 
of  light.  . 

The  historical  side  of  the  three  books  culminates  in  the  lists  of  generations,  in  the  direc- 
tions for  building  the  tabernacle,  in  the  list  of  encampments,  in  the  statutes,  and,  above  all, 
in  the  decalogue.  We  must  also  remark  that  the  history  of  Moses  would  be  entirely  misun- 
derstood if  we  should  regard  it  as  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  or  if  we  should 
sunder  it  entirely  from  the  history  of  the  patriarchs.  Moses  and  his  legislation  are  only  un- 
derstood in  connection  with  Abraham  and  the  Abrahamitic  basis  of  his  religion.  By  this 
measure  those  new  theological  opinions  are  to  be  judged  which  would  commence  this  history 
with  Moses. 


?  13.    MIRACLES  OF  THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD. 


2  13.     MIRACLES  OF  THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD. 

Abraham  prayed  to  God  under  the  name  of  EI  Shaddai,  God  Almighty.  He  learned  to 
know  God's  marvellous  power  by  the  birth  of  Isaac  (Rom.  iv.  17),  and  manifested  his  trust 
in  His  omnipotence  by  his  readiness  to  sacrifice  his  only  son  (Heb.  xi.  17).  Thus  the  foun- 
dation was  laid  for  belief  in  miracles  under  the  theocracy. 

The  miracles  of  the  Mo.saic  period  appear  as  peculiarly  the  miracles  of  Jehovah.  He  is 
ever  present  with  His  miraculous  help  in  the  time  of  need.  All  changes  and  events  in  the 
course  of  nature  He  orders  for  the  needs  of  the  theocracy,  for  the  people  of  God  but  lately 
born,  to  wliom  such  signs  are  a  necessity.  The  prophet  as  the  confidant  of  God  has  not  only 
tlie  natural  presentiment,  but  also  the  supernatural,  God-given  prescience  of  these  great  deeds 
of  God.  Yet,  since  they  are  to  serve  for  the  education  of  the  faith  of  the  people,  he  is  not 
only  to  make  them  known  beforehand,  but  performs  them  in  symbolical  acts  as  the  organ 
of  the  omnipotence  of  Jehovah.  Hence  we  may  call  these  miracles  double  miracles  (see 
Life  of  Chrhf,  Vol.  11.,  Part  1,  p.  312). 

The  whole  series  of  miracles  is  begun  by  a  glorious  vision.  Moses  beholds  the  bush 
burning  with  fire,  and  yet  not  consumed,  but  glowing  in  the  bright  flame.  This  was  Israel, 
his  people,  and  how  could  he  doubt  that  this  vision  would  be  fulfilled  in  the  people  of  God 
(Exod.  iii.)? 

Also  the  three  miracles  of  attestation  which  Moses  at  this  time  received  (Ex.  iv.)  appear 
to  be  miracles  in  vision  and  served  to  strengthen  the  faith  of  the  prophet.  The  second  sign, 
the  leprosy  and  its  cure,  is  not  used  by  Moses  afterward,  and  the  third,  the  change  of  the  wa- 
ter into  blood,  became  one  of  the  series  of  Egyptian  plagues.  He  only  uses  the  miracle  of 
the  rod;  doubtless  it  comprehends  a  mysterious  fact  in  symbolical  expression;  the  swallow- 
ing of  the  rods  of  the  sorcerers  being  called  "  destroying  their  works."  The  natural  basis  of  the 
Egyptian  plagues  has  been  well  explained  by  Hexgstenbero.  They  were  all  plagues  usual 
in  Egypt,  but  were  made  miracles  by  their  vastness,  their  close  connection  and  speedy  se- 
quence, by  their  gradation  from  stroke  to  stroke,  by  the  prophetic  assurance  of  their  predes- 
tination and  intentional  significance  and  use,  and  finally  by  their  lofty  symbolic  expression. 
In  their  totality  they  reveal  the  fearful  rhythm  in  which,  from  curse  to  curse,  great  punitive 
catastrophes  come  forth.  Symbolic  expression  is  also  found  in  their  number,  ten.  It  is  the 
number  of  the  historic  course  of  the  world.  Their  sequence  corresponds  to  the  course 
of  nature. 

1.  Water  turned  into  blood. 

2.  Innumerable  frogs. 

3.  Swarms  of  gnats  (mosquitoes). 

4.  Dog-flics. 

5.  Murrain. 

6.  Boils  and  blains. 

7.  Storm  and  hail. 

8.  Locusts. 

9.  Darkness  for  three  days  (Hamsin). 
10.  Death  of  the  first-born  (pestilence). 

For  particulars  see  Hexgstenberg,  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses  ;  KtmTZ,  Hidory  of 
the  Old  Covenant,  Vol.  II.,  245-288. 

The  contest  of  theocratic  miracle  with  magic  represented  by  the  Egyptian  magicians  is 
very  significant.  It  is  an  opposition  of  symbolic  and  allegorical  significance,  continued 
through  New.Testament  history  (Acts  viii.;  Simon  Magus;  chap,  xiii.;  Elymas:  2  Tim.  iii. 
8 ;  Jannes  and  Jambres),  and  still  through  Church  history  to  its  last  decisive  contest,  when 
the  false  prophet  shall  be  destroyed  together  with  his  lying  wonders  (2  Thess.  ii.; 
Rev.  xiii.  13). 

To  the  miracles  of  the  Egyptian  plagues,  which  culminate  in  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh 
and  his  host,  is  opposed  the  miracle  of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  typical  baptism  of  the 
typical  people  of  God,  by  which  they  were  separated  from  Egypt,  a  reminiscence  of  the  flood 


2S  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

and  a  type  of  Christian  baptism  (1  Cor.  x.  f,  2 ;  1  Pet.  iii.  20,  21).  This  miracle  also  has  a 
natural  basis,  as  the  Scriptures  more  than  once  mention.  The  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go 
back  by  a  strong  east  wind  (Ex.  xiv.  21).  That  a  natural  occurrence  forms  the  basis  of  this 
miracle  is  shown  by  the  Egyptians  pursuing  the  Israelites  into  the  sea — for  they  would 
hardly  have  ventured  into  it  if  there  had  been  an  absolutely  miraculous  drying  up  of  the 
Bea;  just  as  the  natural  explanation  of  the  Egyptian  plagues  became  the  snare  of  Pharaoh's 
unbelief.  But  on  the  other  side,  the  Egyptians  could  hardly  have  made  so  great  a  mistake 
in  taking  advantage  of  a  natural  occurrence:  the  ebb-tide*  was  miraculously  great,  just  as 
the  sudden  turn  of  the  flood-tide  was  miraculously  hastened,  and  therefore  rightly  celebrated 
in  the  Song  of  Moses  (Ex,  xv.),  and  often  afterwards  (Ps.  Isvi.  6;  cvi.  9;  cxxxvi.  13-15; 
Zech.  X.  11). 

In  the  investigation  of  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  there  is  a  conflict  between  those  who 
seek  to  belittle  the  miracle  and  those  who  would  enlarge  it.  Of  those  who  take  the  first  po- 
sition, K.  VON  Raumer  is  one  of  the  champions. 

The  leading  of  the  people  to  the  Red  Sea  is  accomplished  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord  in 
the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire.  At  the  sea  the  cloud  came  between  the  Israelites  and  the 
Egyptian  host,  so  that  they  were  separated  by  the  cloud  before  they  were  separated  by  the 
sea.  For  the  distinction  which  the  Hebrews  made  between  this  cloud  and  the  pillar  of  cloud 
see  Ps.  Ixviii.  8-10 ;  1  Cor.  x.  2.  The  pillar  of  cloud  was  a  mystery,  in  which  were  united 
the  manifestation  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord  and  the  flame  ascending  from  the  sanctuary.  Af- 
terwards the  ark  of  the  covenant  as  a  symbol  led  the  people,  and  over  it  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
■was  revealed  in  the  cloud,  and  in  New  Testament  times  (Isa.  iv.  5)  it  was  to  cover  Zion  with 
its  brightness.  If  we  grasp  these  two  miracles,  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire  and  the  Red 
Sea,  we  shall  gain  some  idea  of  the  harmonia  prcestabilita  between  the  kingdom  of  grace  and 
the  kingdom  of  nature,  as  it  emerges  at  great  decisive  epochs  in  ineffable  glory. 

The  healing  of  the  water  at  Jlarah  from  its  bitterness  is  accounted  for  in  the  Scriptures 
by  natural  means.  The  Lord  showed  Moses  a  tree  (see  the  exegesis)  by  which  the  water  was 
made  sweet.  Here  grace  and  nature  work  together,  and  here  too  a  general  idea,  an  ethical 
law,  is  connected  with  the  extraordinary  fact;  Jehovah  will  be  the  Physician  of  His  people 
if  they  will  obey  His  voice  (Ex.  xv.  23-26). 

The  miracle  of  healing  is  followed  by  the  miracle  of  feeding  the  people  with  manna. 
The  gift  of  quails  appears  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  account  of  the  manna  by  a  gene- 
ralizing attraction  (Ex.  xvi.  11-13).  In  Numb.  xi.  31  the  gift  of  quails  appears  as  an  entirely 
new  event :  and  they  were  far  past  Sinai  then.  The  miracle  of  the  manna  enclosed  a  special 
mysterious  occurrence,  which  was  made  the  symbol  of  the  true  relation  between  the  labor  of 
the  week  and  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath.  The  law  also  was  symbolized,  in  that  the  food  of  hea- 
ven was  common  to  all  (Ex.  xvi.  18).  Concerning  the  natural  basis  of  the  miracle  of  manna 
see  exegesis. 

*  [By  the  plain  and  repeated  words  of  God  we  are  probitited  from  assuming  an  extraordinary  ebb  and  flood  tide  in  this 
miracle.  The  account  is  that  "the  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go  (back)  by  a  strong  east  wind  all  that  night,  tnd  made  the 
sea  dry  land,  and  the  waters  were  divided.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upon  the  dry  ground : 
and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  |iand  and  on  their  left"  "But  the  children  of  Israel  walked  upon 
dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  SPa:  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their  left."  Es.  xiv. 
21,  22,  29.  j; pa— here  translated  "divided"— is  also  used  of  "clearing"  wood  (Gen.  xxii.  3;  1  Sam.  vi.  14;  Ps.  cxli.  7; 
Eccles.  X.  9),  "the  ground  clave  a.^nnder"  (Numb.  xvi.  31),  of  "rending,"  "ripping  up,"  making  a  breach  in  a  wall,  ete. 
A  very  close  parallel  to  the  use  of  this  word  in  Ex.  xiv.  21,  etc.,  is  found  in  Zech.  xiv.  4:  "And  the  mount  of  Olives  shall 
cleave"  (Niph.  ^p3J— be  cleft,  divided)  "in  the  midst  thereof  toward  the  east  and  toward  the  west,  and  there  shall  be  a 
great  valley,  and  half  of  the  mountain  shall  remove  toward  the  north,  and  half  of  it  toward  the  south."  The  word  is  here 
confined  to  this  signification  of  division,  cleaving  asunder,  by  the  additional  and  repeated  statement  that  "  the  waters  were  a 
wall  unto  them  on  their  right  baud  and  on  their  left,"  which  utterly  excludes  the  idea  of  an  ebb  and  flood  tide,  or  that  the 
waters  were  driven  out  of  a  shallow  arm  of  the  sea  by  the  wind.  (Robixson's  Researches,  I.  54-59.)  The  same  representa- 
tion is  thrice  repeated  in  Ex.  xv.  8:  "With  the  blast  of  thy  nostrils  the  waters  were  gathered  together"  (i.  e.,  piled  up); 
"the  floods  stood  upright  as  an  heap,  and  the  depths  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea."  See  also  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  13. 
Comp.  with  this  the  account  in  Josh.  iii.  13-17,  where  it  is  said  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  to  the  north  of  the  passing  host 
*  stood  and  rose  up  upon  an  heap."  It  is  vain  to  indulge  in  theories  to  explain  a  miracle.  The  division  of  the  waters  of  the 
Jordan,  descending  an  incline  of  three  feet  to  the  mile,  laughs  at  all  theories  to  account  for  it.  In  order  to  allow  two  or 
three  millions  of  people,  men,  women  and  children,  to  pass  over  (eastward  six  or  eight  miles)  in  a  night,  there  must  have 
been  a  cleft  in  the  sea  Beveral  milea  in  width  from  north  to  south.— H.  0.  | 


?  13.    MIRACLES  OF  THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD.  29 

At  Rephidim,  the  last  station  before  the  encampment  at  Sinai,  the  failure  of  water  for  the 
murmuring  people  was  the  occasion  of  a  miraculous  gift  of  water  from  a  rock  in  the  Horeb 
range  of  mountains.  Paul,  the  Apostle,  calls  Christ  the  Kock  from  which  Israel  drank  in 
the  desert  (1  Cor.  x.  4),  aud  by  this  reveals  the  prophetic  meaning  of  the  springs  from  the 
rocks  and  the  desert.  This  event  at  Rephidim  stands  in  a  certain  opposition  to  a  similar  mi- 
racle which  took  place  during  the  sojourn  in  Kadesh.  At  Rephidim,  Moses  was  ordered  to 
strike  the  rock ;  at  Meribah  he  was  ordered,  with  Aaron,  only  to  speak  to  the  rock,  and  it 
was  accounted  as  his  great  sin  that  he  twice  smote  it.  The  victory  also  over  the  Amale- 
kites  was  miraculous  in  its  character,  as  it  was  obtained  through  the  intercession  of  Moses 
(Exod.  xvii.). 

There  is  also  a  striking  contrast  between  the  occurrences  at  the  reception  of  the  first  and 
of  the  second  tables  of  the  law.  The  reception  of  the  first  tables  is  introduced  by  the  words: 
"And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings  and  lightnings,  and  the  noise  of  the  trumpet  and 
the  mountain  smoking,  and  when  the  people  saw  it,  they  removed  and  stood  afar  off,"  Ex. 
XX.  8.  But  after  the  reception  of  the  second  tables,  Moses  descended  the  mountain,  and  his 
face  shone  with  a  brightness  before  which  Aaron  retired  aff"righted,  and  Moses  was  compelled 
to  put  a  veil  upon  his  face  that  the  people  might  draw  near  him  (Ex.  xxxiv.  30).  The  glory 
of  the  holy  law,  so  fearful  in  its  majesty,  shines  out  from  Moses  himself  as  soon  as  he  heard 
the  explanation  of  the  gracious  name  of  Jehovah  given  by  Jehovah  on  Sinai  (Ex.  xxxiv.  6) ; 
but  even  in  its  human  mediation  and  beauty  the  law  afirighted  the  unsanctified  people  as 
well  as  the  externally  sanctified  priests. 

The  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire  over  the  tabernacle  consecrated  it  as  the  typical  house  of 
God  (Ex.  xl.  34).  Over  against  this  shining  mystery  is  set  the  darkness  of  the  death  of  the 
sons  of  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  by  fire,  because  they  brought  strange  fire  in  their  censers 
to  the  altar  (Lev.  x.).  They  died  by  fire  (ver.  6 — BcxsEX  speaks  of  an  execution) — and  it  is 
remarkable  that  these  words  are  addressed  to  Aaron  :  "  Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink, 
thou  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  lest  ye  die." 
An  extraordinary  doom  became  forever  afterwards  the  symbol  of  the  putting  away  of  all 
strange  fire;  that  is,  of  fanaticism,  of  extravagance,  of  mere  sensu.al  enthusiasm  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  sanctuary,  which  required  the  pure  flame  of  a  holy  inspiration.  Miriam's  leprosy, 
the  punishment  of  her  fanatical  rebellion  against  Moses,  stands,  in  its  spiritual  significance, 
on  a  plane  with  the  doom  of  the  sons  of  Aaron  (Numb.  xii.). 

The  departure  of  the  children  of  Israel  from  Sinai  is  followed  by  the  destruction  of  some 
of  the  people  by  fire  from  the  Lord  at  Taberah,  to  punish  them  for  complaining  to  Jehovah 
and  longing  for  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt.  Then  follows,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  manna, 
the  miraculous  gift  of  flesh  to  eat,  the  flight  of  quails,  which  settle  down  over  the  camp. 
While  there  was  this  murmuring  among  the  people,  there  arose  the  opposite  disposition  on 
the  part  of  some  near  Moses :  not  only  did  the  seventy  elders,  chosen  by  Moses  to  be  his 
helpers,  begin  to  prophesy  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Mosaic  spirit,  but  two  other  men  in 
the  mid.st  of  the  camp  prophesied.  This  opposition  of  the  inspired  exaltation  of  chosen  men 
to  the  rebellious  ill-humor  of  the  people  is  well  founded  in  the  psychology  of  the  theocratic 
congregation.  The  greedy  eating  of  flesh  is  followed  by  a  new  and  naturally  necessary  judg- 
ment, from  which  the  place  itself  takes  its  name,  Kibbroth-hattaavah,  the  graves  of  lusl. 

In  this  increase  of  theocratic  inspiration,  the  following  events  may  have  their  founda- 
tion. First,  the  legal,  fanatical  opposition  of  Aaron  and  Miriam  to  the  mixed  marriage  of 
Moses,  whose  wife  is  spitefully  called  a  Cushite,  but  who  was  probably  an  Egyptian,  a  spi- 
ritual disciple  of  the  prophet  (Num.  xii.  2).  Miriam  is  smitten  with  leprosy  to  mark  her  as 
the  one  chiefly  responsible  for  the  opposition.  Nevertheless  this  new  agitation  continued, 
and  was  shown  in  the  despair  of  the  people  at  the  report  by  the  spies  of  the  strength  of  the 
Canaanites,  and  then  in  the  presumptuous  and  disastrous  attack  by  the  people  in  opposition 
to  the  command  of  God,  which  was  followed  by  a  second  and  greater  commotion.  After  the 
well-deserved  defeat  of  the  people,  Moses  drew  the  reins  of  government  more  tightly  by  a 
series  of  legal  precepts  and  by  a  stricter  maintenance  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath.  It  is  again 
in  accordance  with  the  psychological  oscillation  of  the  life  of  the  people  that  this  is  followed 


so  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  MIDDLE  BOOKS. 

by  the  insurrection  of  Korah's  company,  which,  in  the  interest  of  an  universal  inspiration, 
threatened  to  put  away  the  authority  of  Moses  and  Aaron  (ch.  xvi.).  The  revolt  and  the 
miraculous  destruction  of  Korah's  company  belong  to  the  second  sojourn  in  Kadesh ;  and 
connected  with  these  is  another  punishment  of  the  people  and  Aaron's  staff  that  blossomed 
(ch.  xvi.  17). 

The  revolt  of  Korah's  company  -was  three-fold,  and  brought  on  one  of  the  most  danger- 
ous crises  in  the  history  of  Israel.  The  Korahites,  as  Levites,  revolted  especially  against  the 
priestly  prerogative  of  Aaron ;  the  sons  of  Eliab,  descendants  of  Reuben,  Jacob's  first-born, 
were  offended  at  Moses'  position  as  prince ;  but  the  people  themselves  were  so  puffed  up  with 
their  fanatical  claims  that  even  after  the  destruction  of  the  company,  they  murmured  again, 
and  brought  upon  themselves  a  new  chastisement.  The  Korahites  seem  to  have  been  led 
into  temptation  by  great  natural  gifts ;  at  any  rate,  we  find  in  later  times,  what  was  appa- 
rently a  remnant  of  them,  the  sous  of  Korah,  employed  as  chief  singers  in  the  service  of  the 
temple.  The  blossoming  staff  of  Aaron  indicated  by  an  obscure,  yet  symbolic  event  the  con- 
firmation of  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  and  even  by  this  fact  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the 
excited  spirit  of  the  people  was  pacified  (ch.  xvii.  12,  13).  The  most  important  fact  was  that 
the  staffs  of  all  the  princes  of  Israel  paid  homage  to  the  staff  of  Aaron.  It  is  a  striking  con- 
trast to  find  the  people  who  before  had  demanded  a  hierarchy  now  submitting  to  the  estab- 
lished hierarchy  with  impatience  and  ill-humor. 

The  second  murmuring  about  water,  the  occasion  of  the  second  miraculous  gift  of  water, 
so  momentous  for  Moses  and  Aaron  (Num.  xx.  12),  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  the  second 
sojourn  in  Kadesh.  The  narrative  in  Num.  xx.  1  ia  retrospective,  for  the  want  of  water  in 
the  desert  of  Zin,  the  northern  part  of  the  great  desert  of  Paran  (see  Bible  Bid.  Paran  and 
Zin)  would  be  found  out  on  their  entrance,  not  after  a  long  sojourn.  Their  entrance  into 
the  desert  of  Zin  is  particularly  recorded,  because  the  name  of  the  desert  of  Zin,  the 
assembling  of  the  whole  people,  and  the  long  settlement  there  bring  into  prominence  the 
■want  of  water.  The  murmuring  of  the  people  and  the  impatience  of  Moses  show  that  the 
discord  which  arose  at  the  defeat  at  Hormah  and  at  the  insurrection  of  Korah's  company 
still  continued,  but  subsided  in  the  darkness  of  the  thirty-eight  years  over  which  the  narra- 
tive draws  a  veil. 

The  history  of  Balaam  and  his  ass  forms  a  miraculous  episode  in  the  narrative  of  the 
exodus.  It  is  in  truth  a  double  psychological  miracle ;  the  miracle  of  the  trance  of  a  sordid 
prophet,  who  by  inspiration  is  lifted  above  his  covetous  intention,  and  beholds  the  ethical 
relations  of  the  future  of  the  theocracy ;  a  fact  which  is  repeated  again  and  again  in  litera- 
ture, and  even  in  the  pulpit ;  and  the  miracle  of  the  influence  of  spiritual  powers  on  the 
sensorium  of  animals,  in  order  that  they  may  make  symbolic  utterances.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  liow  Baumgaeten,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  commentary  (against  Hengsten- 
BEEg),  adheres  to  the  letter,  as  he  had  done  earlier  in  the  six  days  of  creation. 

The  whole  series  of  miraculous  events,  which  made  the  exodus  of  Israel  through  the 
desert  one  great  miracle  of  providence,  is  grandly  closed  by  the  mysterious  death  of  Aaron 
on  Jit.  Hor  and  the  mysterious  death  of  Moses  on  Mt.  Nebo.  In  both  cases  God's  summons 
home  and  the  heart  of  the  dying  man  agree ;  freely  and  gladly  he  goes  home.  The  mystery 
of  Moses'  death  recalls  the  passing  away  of  Enocli,  the  taking  up  of  Elijah,  and  the  last 
words  of  the  dying  Christ. 

§  14.  THE  LEGISLATION  OF  MOSES  IN  GENERAL. 

We  must  ever  remember  that  there  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  between  Moses  the  law- 
giver and  Moses  the  prophet,  for  the  true  propliet  or  philosopher  is  never  lost  in  the  law- 
giver ;  but  his  higher  intelligence  must  accommodate  itself  to  the  culture  and  the  moral 
capability  of  his  people  as  he  finds  them. 

Further  we  must  regard  the  legislation  of  Moses  in  general :  1,  According  to  its  three 
divisions,  which  are  plainly  marked  in  the  outline,  Ex.  xx.-xxiii.,  and  are  represented  in 
the  three  books,  of  the  prophetical,  of  the  sacerdotal,  and  of  the  civil  law;  but  each  of  these 
legislations,  if  considered  by  itself,  would  lose  its  theocratic  impress.    2.  According  to  its 


?  15     THE  TYPOLOGY  OF  THE  WRITINGS  OF  MOSES. 


three  evolutions :  a.  the  outline,  Ex.  xx.-xxiii. ;  b.  the  distinct  form  of  the  three  books ; 
and  also  the  just  modification  of  relations  between  the  first  and  second  tables  of  the  law 
acccordiug  to  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas.  3.  According  to  the  interpretation  of  the  letter  of 
the  law  by  prophetic  inspiration  in  Deuteronomy  as  an  introduction  to  the  New  Testament 
law  of  the  Spirit. 

Literature. — Lakge,  Mosaisches  Lickt  undRecht;  D.  BIichaelis,  Das  Mosaische  Recht; 
Beetheau,  Die  sieben  Gruppen  mosaischer  Gesetze ;  general  title,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Israel- 
iten,  Gottingen,  1840;  Bluhme,  CoUatio  legum  Romanorum  et  Mosaicarum,  1843;  Saal- 
BCHXTETZ,  Das  mosaische  Recht,  Berlin,  1846 ;  Riehm,  Die  Gesetzgebung  im  Lande  Moab, 
Gotha,  1854 ;  George,  Die  dlleren  judischen  Feste  mil  einer  Kritik  der  Gesetzgebung  des  Pen- 
tateuch, Berlin,  1835;  J.  Schxell,  Das  israelische  Recht  in  seinen  Grundzugen,  B;isel,  1855; 
Egbert  Kuebel,  Das  altlesiamentliche  Geselz  und  seine  Urkunde,  Stuttgart,  1867 ;  Franz 
Eberhard  Kuebel,  Die  soziale  und  volkslhumliche  Gesetzgebung  des  Alten  Testaments, 
Wiesbaden,  1870 ;  Mayer,  Die  Rechte  der  Israeliten,  Athener  und  Romer,  mit  RucksicU  auj 
die  neueren  Gesetzgcbungen,  2  vols.,  Leipzig,  1866. 

2  15.    THE  TYPOLOGY  OF  THE  WRITINGS  OF  MOSES. 

On  the  types  and  symbols  of  Scripture,  see  this  Commentary  on  Revelation,  Introd.,  and 
Genesis,  Introd.  As  this  subject  must  be  treated  when  we  come  to  consider  the  Mosaic  ritual 
in  Leviticus,  we  refer  to  that.  For  the  works  on  the  types,  see  Danz,  p.  971.  On  the 
brazen  serpent,  see  this  Comm.,  John  iii.  14,  15.  Killer's  work,  Neites  System  alter  Vor- 
bilder  Jesu  Chrisli  durch  das  game  Alte  Testament  und  die  Vorbilder  der  Kirche  des  Neuen 
Testaments  in  Allen  Testament,  was  reissued  in  a  new  edition  by  Albert  Kxapp,  Ludwigs- 
burg,  1857-8.  It  was  written  carefully  and  with  a  devout  spirit,  but  defends  some  mistaken 
views,  e.  g.  that  the  scape-goat  signified  Christ's  new  life ;  that  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  was 
burnt,  and  the  significance  of  the  red  heifer  is  overstrained. 


B.   SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION 

TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


1.  EXODUS.— The  first  query,  not  only  of  this  book,  but  of  the  whole  trilogy  of  legis- 
lation, as  indeed  of  all  the  historical  books  of  Holy  Scripture,  is  the  right  determination  of 
the  connection  between  the  facts  and  their  symbolic  meaning.  The  symbolism  of  the  books 
of  legislation  by  Moses  must  be  distinguished  from  the  general  significance  of  symbolism  in 
all  religious  history.  If  Moses  was  the  great  instructor  directing  men  to  Christ,  it  follows 
that  his  legislation  must  also  be  pre-eminently  symbolic ;  for  instruction  has  two  sides — le- 
gislative and  symbolic.  Hence,  above  all  things,  we  must  distinguish  between  the  mere  le- 
gal force  of  the  laws  of  Moses,  and  their  symbolic  significance ;  and  as  respects  the  latter, 
between  a  wider  and  a  contracted  symbolism,  the  first  of  which  is  divided  into  allegorical, 
symbolical  and  typical  figures. 

EGYPT. 

The  history  of  Egypt  has  an  especial  charm,  because  Egypt  was  the  earliest  home  of 
culture  in  the  old  world,  and  because  of  its  relation  to  the  origin  of  the  people  of  Israel,  and 
to  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God.    See  the  article  on  Egypt  in  Winer's  Bibl.  Worter- 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


huch,  and  those  of  Lepsius  on  Ancient  Egypt,  and  of  W.  Hoffmann  on  Modern  Egypt,  in 
Herzog's  Eeal-Encyklopadie.  In  the  last  article  there  is  a  list  of  the  later  works  of  travels 
in  Egypt.  There  is  also  a  full  catalogue  of  the  literature  of  the  subject  in  Brockhaus' 
smaller  Oonversalionslexicon,  p.  68.  The  article  in  Schemkel's  Bibdlexicon  has  specially- 
treated  Egypt's  place  in  Old  Testament  prophecy.  Every  comprehensive  history  of  the 
world,  in  treating  the  history  of  antiquity,  must  especially  treat  of  Egypt.  Hegel,  in  his 
Lectures  on  the  Fhilosophy  of  History,  has  enlarged  on  the  history  of  Egypt  (  Werke,  Vol.  IX. 
p.  205] ;  and  on  the  religion  of  Egypt  under  the  title  "Die  Religio7i  des  Riithsels,"  in  his 
Lectures  on  the  Philosoj)hy  of  Religion  (  Werke,  Vol.  XI.  p.  343).  It  would  be  a  superfluous 
comment  if,  in  a  history  of  occidental  philosophy,  Egyptian  mythology  were  spoken  of  as 
dualistic,  since  no  mythology  has  been  found  which  had  not  a  dualistic  basis;  and  this 
comment  would  be  altogether  erroneous  if  we  should  regard  the  worship  of  the  dead  and  of 
graves  as  an  exotic  growth  imported  into  Egypt  (Knoetel,  Cheops).  We  have  regarded  the 
Egyptian  mythology  as  occupying  a  middle  position  between  the  Phoenician  mourning  for 
the  dead  and  the  Grecian  apotheosis  of  men.  Bunsen's  work,  Egypt's  Place  in  History,  has 
largely  served  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  Egyptology.  See  also  Gfeoeeeb,  Die  Urgeschichte 
des  Menschengesehlechts,  Schaflfhausen,  1855.  Brugsch,  Reiseberichte  aus  Egypten,  Leipzig, 
1855.  Uhlemann,  Israeliten  und  Hyksos,  Leipzig,  1856.  G.  Ebers,  Egypten  und  die 
Bucher  Moses',  Leipzig,  1868.    G.  Ebers,  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  Leipzig,  1872. 

history  of  ISRAEL. 

This  history  in  the  literature  of  the  present  day  is  obscured  in  a  twofold  manner.  First, 
by  separating  the  religion  of  Moses  from  the  promises  to  the  patriarchs.  But  Moses,  with- 
out the  religion  of  Abraham,  cannot  be  understood  (Rom.  iv.;  Gal.  iii.).  If  the  patriarchs 
are  remitted  to  the  region  of  myths,  Moses  is  made  a  caricature,  a  mere  national  lawgiver, 
and  nothing  but  a  lawgiver,  like  Solon,  Lycurgus,  and  others.  On  this  theme,  which,  with- 
out further  notice,  we  entrust  to  the  theology  of  the  future,  frivolous  correctors  of  the  history 
of  Israel's  ancient  religion  may  expend  their  thought  at  their  pleasure.  Secondly,  this  his- 
tory is  greatly  disparaged  by  a  severely  literal  interpretation  of  the  narrative  in  entire  disre- 
gard of  its  historical  and  symbolic  character.  This  severely  literal  interpretation  is  only  a 
detriment  to  orthodoxy,  because  it  serves  negative  criticism  as  a  pretext  for  invalidating  the 
sacred  history.  Bishop  Colexso  came  to  doubt  the  historical  truth  of  the  books  of  Moses 
by  the  candid  doubt  expressed  by  one  of  his  converts,  who  was  assisting  him  in  translating 
the  Bible.  His  first  step  was  honest  and  honorable — he  would  not  be  a  party  to  deception  in 
the  exercise  of  his  office.  He  sought  counsel  and  help  from  his  theological  friends  in  Eng- 
land— and  received  none.  The  German  theological  works  which  he  ordered  gave  him  no 
help.  And  so  he  gradually  passed  from  a  noble  unrest  of  candor  to  the  tumult  of  skepticism. 
He  passed  the  line  which  runs  between  a  discreet  continuance  within  a  religious  community 
that  cannot  reduce  its  treasure  of  truth  to  the  capacity  of  a  special  period  or  of  a  single  indi- 
vidual, that  is,  between  the  continuance  and  quiet  investigation  of  a  pastor,  a  bishop,  and 
the  tumble  of  an  impatient  spirit,  which,  after  the  first  break  with  servility  to  the  letter,  finds 
no  rest  in  doubt.  Yet,  with  all  this,  Bishop  Colexso  bears  a  very  favorable  comparison 
with  those  novices  who  think  they  have  reached  the  peak  of  critical  illumination  while  they 
really  fall  into  the  dense  darkness  of  boundless  negation. 

As  regards  later  criticism,  we  refer  to  the  distinction  previously  made  between  originals 
or  records  and  the  final  compilations  which  were  also  under  the  guidance  of  the  prophetic 
spirit.  Joseph  and  Moses,  the  mediators  between  Egyptian  culture  and  theocratic  tradition, 
are  said  to  have  written  little  or  nothing.  It  is  a  similar  supposition  to  the  one  that  the 
Apostle  John  never  before  his  old  age  recalled  the  discourses  of  Jesus,  nor  ever  used 
records. 

Theological  criticism,  like  classical  philology,  should  above  all  things  free  itself  from 
the  mere  idea  of  book-making,  from  all  plagiarism  and  literary  patch-work,  and  estimate 
the  books  of  Scripture  in  their  totality,  as  well  as  make  itself  familiar  with  the  idea  of  a 
synthetic  inspiration,  oae  of  the  canons  of  which  is,  if  the  idea  of  the  book  is  inspired,  and 


MOSES  AND  IMMORTALITY. 


the  book  itself  appears  in  divine-human  harmony  as  a  literary  organism,  the  whole  book  is 
inspired.     For  the  literature,  see  the  bibliography,  p.  49. 

MOSES. 

As  in  the  life  of  Christ  we  must  assume  that  there  was  no  motion  of  Deity  in  Him  with- 
out a  corresponding  motion  of  His  ideal  humanity,  so  we  must  assume  with  respect  to 
Moses,  though  most  persons  rend  asunder  his  mysterious  personality ;  some  by  making  him 
merely  the  servant  of  an  absolutely  supernatural  divine  revelation  of  law ;  others  by  making 
him  only  a  human  lawgiver  of  great  political  sagacity,  or  of  great  incompetence.  For  this 
reason  it  is  the  more  necessary  to  assert  with  respect  to  Moses  the  synthesis  of  the  divine-hu- 
man life.  In  this  regard  we  must  ascribe  to  him  a  deep  sympathy  with  nature.  Who  among 
the  men  of  antiquity  was  more  sensitive  to  the  life  of  nature— its  signs  and  omens?  Who 
had  such  clear  vision  of  the  harmonia  prsestahilila  between  the  course  of  nature  and  the 
course  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  As  to  the  moral  law,  he  was  as  firm  and  unyielding  as  the 
mount  of  revelation,  Sinai  itself.  That  he  should  not  enter  Canaan,  the  object  of  his  hope, 
because  in  impatience  he  had  struck  the  rock  twice,  is  not  only  God's  decree  concerning 
him,  but  also  an  expression  of  his  heroic  conscientiousness,  the  last  subtle,  tragical  motive 
of  his  lofty,  consecrated  life,  a  life  which  had  been  full  of  tragical  motives,  and  whose  crowni 
according  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  was  a  resolute  self-denial,  illumined  by  a  steadfast 
trust  in  the  great  reward.  It  was  pre-eminently  in  this  that  Moses  was  a  type  of  the 
coming  Christ. 

MOSES  AND  IMMORTALITY. 

This  Moses,  who,  in  the  effulgence  of  the  promise,  passed  from  Mt.  Nebo  to  the  other 
world,  is  said  to  have  been  ignorant  of  immortality,  and  his  people  are  said  to  have  remained 
ignorant  of  it  until  in  the  Babylonian  captivity  they  came  in  contact  with  the  Persians. 
This  is  Lessing's  view  in  his  Erziehung  des  Ilenschengeschlechls.  With  respect  to  this  fact, 
"God  winked  at  the  times  of  this  ignorance,"  Acts  xvii.  30.  The  Jews  came  out  of  Egypt, 
the  land  of  the  worship  of  the  dead,  where  the  doctrine  of  another  world,  a  foncied  immor- 
tality, was  taught,  and  yet  they  are  said  to  have  been  ignorant  of  immortality.  What  this 
derivation  of  Moses  and  his  people  availed  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  even  heathenism  held  a 
defective  doctrine  of  the  other  world;  and  this  reappears  in  the  medireval  teaching  and  in 
the  worship  of  the  dead  by  the  Trappists.  It  w.-is  all-important  that  Moses  should  guard 
against  Egyptian  heathenism,  and  make  the  sacredness  of  laws  for  this  world,  the  revelation 
of  Jehovah,  of  His  blessing  and  His  curse  in  the  present,  fundamental  articles  of  faith.  Be- 
sides, Moses  wrote  of  the  tree  of  life,  of  Enoch,  of  Sheol,  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  of  the  antithesis  of  prophecy  in  Israel  to  consultation  of  the  dead,  and  of  the  resto- 
ration of  a  repentant  people  from  waste  places  of  the  world.  In  this  matter  we  must  distin- 
guish between  the  metaphysical  or  ontological  idea  of  immortality  and  the  ethical  idea  of 
eternal  life,  and  then  mark  that  the  ethical  idea  is  the  main  point  for  theocratic  faith,  but  it 
always  presupposes  the  metaphysical  idea  of  immortality.  In  the  ethical  view  the  sinner  is 
subject  to  death,  the  immeasurable  sojourn  in  Sheol,  because,  in  the  metaphysical  idea,  his 
continued  existence  is  immeasurable.  If  this  distinction  is  not  made  and  maintained,  con- 
fusion is  sure  to  arise,  as  in  the  work  of  H.  ScnxJi.TZ,  Die  Voraussetzungen  der  christlichen 
Lehre  von  der  Vnsterhlichkeil. 

LATEST  ■WORKS  ON  SINAI. 
See  Die  neue  evangel.  MrchemeiCung,  Dec.  28,  1872,  "Die  neuesten  Forschungcn  iiber  die 
Lage  des  biblischen  Sinai."  PALMER,  in  his  work,  Tlie  Desert  of  the  Exodxts,  has  decided 
against  Serbal  (Lepsius,  Bartlett,  Herzog)  and  for  Sinai.  So  also  the  work  of  the  Bri- 
tish Ordnance  Survey.  The  London  Athenaeum  has  said  that  the  question  is  decided.  Yet 
Professor  Ebees,  in  his  work,  Durch  Gosen  zum  Sinai,  maintains  the  hypothesis  of  Serbal. 
Eitter  and  Ewald  maintain  that  it  is  not  yet  decided.  Eittee  remarks :  "  Since  the  fifth 
century  there  have  been  two  opposite  views — the  Egyptian,  which  is  for  Serbal ;  and  the 
Byzantine,  for  the  present  Sinai." 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


THE  LAW. 

Since  it  is  certain  tliat  the  ethical  law  of  the  decalogue  is  identical  with  the  law  of  the 
conscience  (Rom.  ii.  14) — and  it  is  also  certain  that  the  decalogue  logically  requires  the  law 
of  worship  and  sacrifice,  as  well  as  the  law  for  the  king,  for  the  state,  and  for  war — it 
follows  that  these  last  two  legislations  are  symbols  and  types  of  the  imperishable  norms  of 
man's  inner  life,  of  the  individual  spirit  as  well  as  of  the  spiritual  life  of  mankind.  In  the 
New  Testament  the  whole  law  of  sacrifice  is  converted  into  spiritual  ideas,  and  Christians 
are  represented  as  the  spiritual  host  of  their  royal  leader,  Christ,  or  as  the  soldiers  of  God 
who,  through  warfare  with  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  shall  gain  the  inheritance  of  glory 
(Eph.  vi  11  f.). 

The  law  was  always  two-fold.  On  the  one  side  it  must  develope  as  the  law  of  the  Spi- 
rit ;  on  the  other  side,  as  a  law  of  the  letter,  it  could  become  a  law  of  death — th.it  is,  in  this 
apparent  contrast  between  its  spirit  and  external  form  it  must  reveal  itself.  The  solution 
of  this  contrast  is  brought  about  by  catastrophes  which,  on  the  worldly  side,  appear  as  the 
consummation  of  tragedy ;  on  the  divine  side,  as  the  consummation  of  the  priesthood. 

The  law  as  the  principle  of  life  is  one,  the  law  of  love,  of  personality ;  the  law  as  the 
principle  of  society  is  two-fold,  the  law  of  love  of  God  and  love  of  man,  the  harmony  of  wor- 
ship and  culture.  The  law  as  the  statute  of  the  kingdom  is  three-fold — prophetical,  sacer- 
dotal, royal.  The  law  as  the  statute  of  the  kingdom  is  given  under  ten  heads,  the  number 
of  the  complete  course  of  the  world,  and  from  this  basis  spring  its  multiplied  ramifications, 
the  symbolism  of  all  doctrines  of  faith  and  life,  a  tree  of  knowledge  and  a  tree  of  life;  rami- 
fications which  Jewish  theology  of  the  letter  has  attempted  to  number  exactly. 

Jehovah's  law  is  in  exact  correspondence,  not  only  with  the  natural  law  of  morals,  but 
also  with  the  moral  law  of  nature;  and  it  is  a  one-sided  view  to  regard  these  legal  precepts 
as  either  only  abstract  religious  statutes,  or  as  mere  laws  of  health  and  of  common  weal,  with 
a  religious  purpose.  In  this  respect  there  has  been  great  confusion,  as,  for  example,  in 
HE^fGSTE^'BERG's  works. 

The  development  of  the  legislation  was  in  accordance  with  the  need  for  it — a  fact  which 
must  not  be  overlooked.  The  hierarchical  Law  of  worship  is  required  because  the  people 
were  afraid  to  enter  into  immediate  communion  with  Jehovah  (Ex.  sx.).  After  the  people's 
fall  into  idolatry,  the  law  of  the  new  tables  is  illustrated  in  two  ways,  by  mildness  and  by 
severity,  by  the  announcement  of  Jehovah's  grace,  and  by  punishment.  As  the  priests  were 
called  to  maintain  the  warfare  of  Israel  within  the  people,  so  the  army  of  God  was  called  to 
carry  the  law  of  God  into  the  world  as  a  priesthood  ad  extra.  The  unfolding  of  the  spiritual 
character  of  the  law  was  provided  for  in  Deuteronomy. 

According  to  John  vi.,  Acts  xv.,  and  Jewish  theology,  the  basis  of  Mosaic  legislation  was 
a  still  more  ancient  law — 1,  the  so-called  Noachic  patriarchal  Jaw;  2,  the  Abrahamic  patri- 
archal law  of  faith. 

The  so-called  commands  of  Noah  are  a  tradition  connected  with  the  general  principle 
of  monotheism,  which  forbids  idolatry,  and  with  the  fundamental  law  of  humanity,  which 
forbids  murder. 

The  first  law  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  is  circumcision,  which,  as  a  type  of  regenera- 
tion, signifies  the  consecration  of  the  family  to  regeneration  (Gen.  xvii.),  and  in  Exodus  this 
law  is  renewed  by  means  of  a  striking  fact  (Ex.  iv.  24).  In  patriarchal  faith  it  was  the  sa- 
crament of  consecration.  It  contains  the  germ  of  the  monotheistic  law  of  marriage.  By 
Abraham's  great  sacrifice,  commanded  and  directed  by  Jehovah,  Gen.  xxii.,  the  traditional 
and  corrupt  ancient  religious  sacrifices  were  changed  to  a  hallowed  custom,  and  this  takes 
the  form  of  law  in  the  institution  of  the  Passover,  the  sacred  celebration  of  the  covenant  with 
the  house  of  Israel.  The  Passover  is  not  only  the  central  norm  of  all  forms  of  sacrifice,  but 
it  is  also  the  basis  of  legislation  ;  for  on  it  depend  the  ethical  laws  of  the  worship  of  God,  of 
the  hallowing  of  His  name,  of  the  consecration  of  the  house,  of  festivals,  and  of  religious  edu- 
cation, of  the  consecration  of  the  first-born  and  of  the  Levites,  and  lastly  the  civil  law,  by 
the  regulation  of  the  festivals  and  of  the  principal  oiBces  of  the  theocratic  state. 


THE  TABERNACLE.  35 

The  three  phases  of  religion,  its  prophetic,  sacerdotal,  and  voluntary  or  kingly  charac- 
ter, appear  under  peculiar  forms  in  the  sphere  of  law.  Prophecy  becomes  command,  resig- 
nation becomes  sacrifice,  exaltation  to  royal  freedom  from  the  world  and  in  communion  with 
God  is  the  entrance  into  the  army  of  Jehovah.  It  has  been  remarked  above  that  these  three 
phases  are  logically  dependent  upon  each  other  and  inseparable. 

The  relation  of  the  law  to  the  ideal,  the  law  of  the  Spirit,  is  three-fold.  First,  the  law 
bounds  life  with  its  plain  requirements,  and  each  one  who  is  in  accord  with  it  receives  its 
blessing, — he  is  a  good  citizen.  But  as  the  law  is  the  representative  of  the  moral  ideal,  it  is 
impossible  for  sinful  men  to  avoid  coming  short  of  its  requirements.  Before  the  transgressor 
there  are  two  ways;  if  he  continues  in  malicious  transgression,  the  law  spews  him  out, — he 
becomes  "cherem,"  accursed;  but  if  he  confesses  his  transgression,  the  law  accounts  his  guilt 
as  an  error,  and  points  him  to  the  way  of  sacrifices  of  atonement.  By  the  presentation  of  his 
sacrifice  he  expresses  in  symbol  his  longing  after  righteousness.  Yet  through  these  very 
sacrifices  a  consciousness  is  awakened  in  candid  minds  of  the  insufliciency  of  animal  sacri- 
fices, of  the  blood  of  beasts.  On  the  part  of  the  insincere,  the  bringing  of  a  sacrifice  was  a 
mere  service  of  pretence,  instead  of  an  earnest  prayer.  The  sincere  offerer  was  directed  to 
the  future,  and  in  hope  of  the  coming  real  expiation  his  sacrifice  became  typical,  just  as  the 
law  itself  sets  forth  this  typical  character  in  the  great  sacrifice  of  atonement.  Thus  the  son 
of  the  law  becomes  a  man  of  the  Spirit,  a  soldier  of  God  for  the  realization  of  His  Kingdom, 
though  only  in  typical  form.  The  decalogue  may  be  regarded  as  the  sign-manual  of  Christ 
in  outline;  the  law  of  sacrifice  as  the  type  of  His  atonement;  the  march  of  Israel  as  the 
leading  of  the  people  of  God  under  His  royal  orders. 

Considered  as  to  its  essential  character,  the  law  is  a  treasure-house  of  veiled  promises 
of  God's  grace,  since  every  requirement  of  God  is  an  expression  of  what  He  gave  man  in 
Paradise,  and  what  He  will  again  give  him  in  accordance  with  his  needs. 

In  addition  to  the  literature  already  given,  see  the  articles  in  Heezog  and  in  Schen- 
kel's  Lexicon.  In  Wixer's  Eeal-  Wdr!erbueh  will  be  found  a  very  full  list  of  the  lite- 
rature. 

THE  TABERNACLE. 

The  idea  that  there  was  no  central  holy  place  before  the  Levitical  tabernacle,  gives  rise 
to  certain  critical  assumptions.  But  one  might  as  well  doubt  that  there  was  a  tabernacle  in 
the  wilderness.  The  idea  of  the  tabernacle  arises  from  the  relation  of  the  law  to  the  life  of 
Israel,  or  from  the  requirement  of  a  three-fold  righteousness  or  holiness.  The  requirement 
of  social  or  legal  holiness,  of  legal  civic  virtue,  is  the  requirement  of  the  court.  But  as  civic 
virtue  cannot  be  separated  from  the  religious  and  moral  intent  which  is  its  spiritual  basis,  so 
the  court  cannot  be  separated  from  the  sanctuary.  The  court  where  sacrifices  were  brought 
was  one  with  the  Holy  place  and  the  Host  Holy  place.  The  theocratic  court  was  possible 
only  in  its  relation  to  the  sanctuary.  The  Holy  Place  by  its  conformation  was  imperfect,  as 
the  place  of  self-renunciation,  of  aspiration,  of  prayers,  of  moments  of  enlightenment  of  the 
soul,  hence  an  oblong  structure,  which  finds  its  complement  in  the  square  of  the  Most  Holy 
Place,  the  place  where  God  reigned  supreme,  where  were  the  cherubim,  the  place  of  the  per- 
fect satisfaction  of  the  di\'ine  law  or  of  atonement,  and  of  a  vision  of  God  which  did  not  kill  but 
made  aUve,  the  Shekinah.  This  gr.adation  recurs  in  all  sanctuaries.  In  Catholic,  Greek,  and 
Eoman  temples  the  most  holy  place  is,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient  sanctuary,  more  or 
less  shut  off.  In  the  churches  of  radical  Protestants  the  chancel  as  the  place  of  the  sacra- 
mental assurance  of  atonement  for  those  who  partake  of  the  Supper  is  made  level  with  the 
floor  of  the  church,  which  has  no  court. 

See  W.  Neumann:  Die  Sliftshutle  in  Bild  und  Wort,  1861.  Rigoenbach  :  Die  mosa- 
ische  Sliftshutle,  186S.  He  treats  of  the  tabernacle  also  in  the  appendix  to  his  pamphlet: 
Die  Zeiignisse  des  Evangelislen  Johannes,  1867.  J.  Popper:  Der  bibhsche  Berichl  iiber  die 
SliftshiUte,  1862.     Wangemann  :  Die  Bcdmlung  der  SliflshiiUe,  1866. 

Concerning  the  form  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  symbolism  of  the  colors,  see  this  Comm. 
on  Rev.  xiii.  Wangemann  calls  the  number  five,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  measurement 
of  the  court,  the  number  of  unfulfilled  longing  after  perfection.    But  this  longing  does  not 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


reach  perfection  in  the  parallelogram  of  the  sanctuary.  We  have  called  five  the  number 
of  free-choice,  Eev.  xi.  On  the  materials  of  the  tabernacle,  see  Waxgemann,  p.  7 ;  also 
on  the  coverings,  p.  8,  where  the  relation  of  the  hidden  to  the  revealed,  according  to  the  law 
of  theocratic  appearance,  is  to  be  emphasized.  The  taste  of  the  world  presents  the  best  and 
most  beautiful  side  without ;  the  sesthetics  of  the  theocracy  turns  the  most  beautifiil  side 
within.  For  the  symbolism  of  the  three  places,  and  of  the  priestly  attire,  we  refer  to 
the  exegesis. 

2.  LEVITICUS. 

Biblical  Allegory,  Symbol  and  Type. — The  theory  of  the  figures  of  Holy  Scripture 
belongs  in  general  to  the  hermeneutics  of  Scripture  from  Genesis  to  Kevelation,  but  in  a  special 
sense  it  belongs  to  an  introduction  to  Leviticus.  To  avoid  repetitions  we  refer  for  the  general 
theory  to  this  Comm.  Introd.  to  Matt,  xiii.;  for  the  special  theory  to  Introd.  to  Rev.  These 
points  will  be  touched  upon  in  the  exegesis  of  the  three  books.    See  also  my  Dogmatik,  p.  360  f. 

As  the  symbolism  of  Leviticus  is  largely  treated  by  many  authors,  we  append  a  list  of 
the  more  important  works. 

Spencer  :  De  legibus  Hehrxorum  ritualibus  earumque  ralionibus,  Tiibingen,  1732. 
HiLLEE,  Die  Vorbilder  der  Kxrche  des  Neuen  Testaments  (see  above).  Baehe:  Die 
symbolik  des  mosaischen  Kultus,  1876.  Baehr  :  Der  sahmonische  Terapel,  1841. 
Feiedeich:  Symbolik  der  mosaischen  Sliftslmlte,  1841.  Hengstenberg  :  Beilrage  zur 
Einleitung  ins  Alte  Testament.  The  same:  Die  Opfer  der  Eeiligen  Sckrift,  1852. 
LiSCO:  Das  Ceremonialgesetz  des  Alien  Testaments,  Darsiellung  desselben  und  Nachweis 
seiner  Erfullung  im  Neuen  Testament,  1842.  KuETz:  Das  mosaische  Opfer,  1842.  The 
same:  Beitrclge  zur  Symbolik  des  mosaischen  Kultus,  1  Bd.  {Die  Kullus-stdite),  1851, 
The  same:  History  of  the  Old  Covenant,  Claek,  Edinburg.  The  same:  Der  alttestament- 
liche  Opferkulius,  1  Theil  (Das  Kullusgesetz),  Mitau,  1862.  The  same:  Beitrdge  zur  Sym- 
bolik des  alltestamenllichen  KuUus,  1859.  Saetoeius:  Ueber  den  alt-  und  neutestamentlichen 
ICultus,  1852.  The  same:  Die  Bundeslade,  1857.  Kliefoth:  Die  Gottcsdienstordnungen 
in  der  deutschen  Kxrche,  1854.  Kaech  (Cath.) :  Die  mosaischen  Opfer  ah  Grundlage  der 
Bitten  im  Vater-  Unser,  1856.  Kuepfee  :  Das  Priesterthum  des  Alien  Bundes,  1865.  Wan- 
GEMAKN:  Das  Opfer  nach  der  Heiligen  Schrifl,  alien  und  neuen  Testaments,  1866.  Tholuck: 
Das  alte  Testament  im  neuen  Testament,  1868.  Bramesfeld:  Der  alUestameniliche  Golies- 
dienst,  1864.  Hoff  :  Die  mosaischen  Opfer  nach  ihrer  sinnbildlichen  und  vorbildlichen  Bedeu- 
iung,  1859.  Bachmann  :  Die  Festgesetze  des  Pentateuch,  1858.  Scholtz,  Die  heiligen  Al- 
terthiimer  des  Volkes  Israel,  1868.  Sommee:  Biblische  Abhandlungen,  1846.  Thiersch: 
Das  Verbot  der  Ehe  innerhalb  der  nahen  Verwandlschaft,  1869. 

This  part  of  Biblical  theology  is  greatly  in  need  of  clear  explanation  to  free  it  from  the 
confusion  which  frequently  attaches  to  it.  Allegorical  figures  ought  to  be  carefully  distin- 
guished from  those  which  are  typical  or  symbolical.  We  are  to  avoid  the  confusion  which 
results  from  commingling  the  exegesis  of  real  allegories  with  an  allegorizing  of  histories  that 
are  not  allegorical.  Nor,  to  satisfy  our  prejudices,  are  we  arbitrarily  to  allegorize  history 
and  precept,  or  interpret  severely  according  to  the  letter  unmistakable  allegorical  figures, — a 
mode  of  exegesis  in  which  Baue  of  Tiibingen  excels.  (See  this  Comm.  Introd.  to  Rev.) 
The  distrust  aroused  by  this  arbitrary  allegorizing  has  led  to  a  long-continued  misunder- 
standing of  all  really  symbolical  and  typical  forms.  But  even  when  these  forms  are  in  gene- 
ral rightly  understood,  the  types  may  be  permitted  to  pass  away  into  mere  symbols ;  that  is, 
the  classes  of  typical  representations  of  the  future  into  the  classes  of  symbolical  representa- 
tions of  similarity,  although  both  sorts  of  representations  should  be  carefully  distinguished. 
As  an  allegory,  the  priest  was  a  pre-eminent  representative  of  his  people ;  as  a  symbol,  he 
was  the  expression  of  their  longing  after  righteousness  in  perfect  consecration  to  God;  as  a 
type,  he  was  the  forerunner  of  the  perfect  High  Priest  who  was  to  come. 

saceifice  oe  typical  worship. 
The  antecedent  and  basis  of  sacrificial  worship,  of  the  typical  completion  of  religious 
consecration,  la  religion  itself  or  the  relation  between  God  and  man,  who  answers  the  end  of 


SACRIFICE  OR  TYPICAL  WORSHIP.  37 

his  being  by  self-consecration  to  God.  The  expressed  will  of  God  is  therefore  the  foundation 
of  sacrifices,  and  He  manifests  Himself  to  the  offerer  by  His  presence,  deciding  the  place 
and  time  of  sacrifice,  and  by  His  ritual  of  sacrifice  and  His  word,  which  explains  the 
sacrifice. 

The  sacrifice  needs  explanation  because  in  the  life  of  the  sinner  it  has  taken  the  form 
of  a  symbolic  act.  God,  as  the  Omnipresent,  primarily  and  universally  demands  the  entire 
consecration  of  man,  the  sacrifice  of  his  will,  as  is  proved  by  the  sacrifice  of  prayer,  "  the 
calves  of  the  lips,"  and  by  the  daily  sacrifice  of  the  powers  of  life  in  active  service  of  God 
(Kom.  xii.  1). 

Man's  religious  nature,  conscious  of  the  imperfection  of  this  spiritual  sacrifice,  has  set 
up  religious  sacrifices  as  a  sort  of  substitution.  Therefore,  from  the  beginning  they  have  been 
only  conditionally  acceptable  to  Jehovah  {Gen.  i.) ;  they  had  their  influence  on  the  natural 
development  of  heathenism,  and  in  heathenism  sank  to  the  sacrifice  of  abomination  ;  for  this 
reason,  when  Jehovah  initiated  the  regeneration  of  man,  He  took  them  as  well  as  man  him- 
self under  his  care  (Gen.  xxii.).  Hence  in  His  first  giving  of  the  law  He  did  not  prescribe 
but  regulated  by  a  few  words  a  simple  sacrificial  worship  (Ex.  xx.  24) ;  He  accompanied  the 
sacrifice  with  His  explanation,  and  gradually  caused  the  antithesis  between  the  external  act 
and  the  idea  of  sacrifice  to  appear  (1  Sam.  xv.  22 ;  Psalm  li.) ;  afterwards  he  proclaimed  the 
abomination  of  a  mere  external  sacrifice  (Tsa.  Ixvi.),  as  he  had  from  the  beginning  abhorred 
the  sacrifice  of  self-will  (Isa.  i.) ;  but  finally,  with  the  fulfilment  of  all  prophecy  of  sacrifice, 
in  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ,  He  made  an  end  of  all  external  sacrifices  (Hcb. 
ix.  10,  14). 

Sacrifice  can  no  more  be  turned  by  man  into  a  mere  outward  act  than  religion  itself. 
If  he  does  not  offer  to  God  sacrifices  that  are  well-pleasing,  he  offers  sacrifices  of  abomina- 
tion, even  though  they  may  not  bear  the  name  of  sacrifices  in  the  Christian  economy.  The 
theocratic  ritual  of  sacrifice  was  the  legal  symbolic  course  of  instruction  which  was  to  edu- 
cate men  to  offer  to  their  God  and  Redeemer  the  true  sacrifices  of  the  heart  as  spiritual 
burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  sacrifice  is  God's  manifestation  of  Himself  by  revelation  and 
personal  presence,  which  arouses  man  to  sacrifice.  Its  symbolic  locality  was  indicated  by  a 
sign  from  heaven.  Gen.  xii.  7 ;  xxviii.  12,  or  was  a  grove.  Gen.  xiii.  18,  a  hill  (Moriah),  af- 
terwards, when  established  by  law,  the  sanctuary,  the  tabernacle,  the  temple. 

The  temple  was  not  merely  the  place  for  sacrifice,  but  primarily  the  dwelling-place  of 
Jehovah,  indicated  by  the  laver  in  the  court,  by  the  golden  lamp-stand  in  the  Holy  Place,  by 
the  cherubim  and  the  ark  of  the  covenant  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  But,  secondarily,  it  was  the 
place  for  sacrifice,  as  was  shown  by  the  brazen  altar,  by  the  altar  of  incense  in  the  Holy 
Place,  by  the  mercy-seat  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  Thirdly,  the  temple  was  the  place  where 
man  came  most  closely  in  communion  with  God.  In  the  court  every  priest,  and  so  relatively 
every  Israelite  (in  the  peace-offerings),  had  his  part  in  the  sacrifice ;  in  the  Holy  Place  this 
communion  with  God  was  represented  in  the  show-bread;  and  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  He 
was  granted  the  vision  of  the  glory  of  God  {the  Shekinah). 

The  decisive  act  in  the  performance  of  the  sacrifice  was,  on  man's  side,  his  approach  to 
God  (Jer.  xxx.  21),  to  God's  altar  with  his  sacrifice;  on  God's  side,  it  was  the  reception  of 
the  offering  by  fire ;  the  divine-human  union  in  both  acts  was  the  burden  of  the  temple 
praises  and  of  the  priest's  blessing. 

As  the  temple  was  the  holy  place  of  sacrifice,  so  the  festival  days  of  sacrifice  were  made 
holy.  Yet  every  week-day,  according  to  the  ideal,  was  a  day  of  festival,  over  which  the  the- 
ocratic festivals  were  exalted  as  epochs,  the  higher  symbolic  units  of  time,  just  as  all  Israel- 
ite houses,  from  the  tents  of  Abraham  and  Moses,  were  houses  of  God  which  were  united 
and  transfigured  in  the  temple.  The  Passover  was  celebrated  in  houses,  and  so  the  principal 
sacrifice,  the  burnt-offering,  was  offered  daily,  and  not  only  on  the  Sabbath.  The  season  of 
festivals  had  its  three  ascents,  just  as  the  temple  had  its  three  courts  ascending  one  from  the 
other.  On  the  basis  of  the  Sabbath  appears  the  Passover  in  connection  with  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread ;  then  the  festival  of  weeks  or  Pentecost,  and  finally  the  great  festival  of 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


the  seventh  month,  the  feast  of  tahernacles,  founded  on  the  great  day  of  repentance,  the  day 
of  atonement.  In  the  Sabbatic  year  man  and  nature  rested,  and  the  great  year  of  Jubilee 
was  a  symbol  of  the  restoration  of  all  things.    The  year  of  Jubilee  was  a  diminutive  Eon. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  SACRIFICE. 

It  is  no  more  true  that  sacrifice  was  the  product  of  the  childlike  conceptions  of  the  ori- 
ginal man,  as  a  supposed  means  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  God,  than  that  it  was  intended  by 
man  as  a  means  of  atonement,  and  contained  a  confession  of  the  sinner's  guilt;  nor  is  a 
magical  effect  to  be  ascribed  to  it,  so  that  it  became  the  source  of  superstition.  Comp.  Winer, 
Ueber  die  versehiedenen  Deulungen  des  Opfers. 

The  basis  of  sacrifice  is  the  use  and  waste  of  life  in  work  and  pleasure,  both  of  which, 
according  to  the  original  destiny  of  man,  should  be,  but  are  not  in  reality,  sanctified  to  God. 
There  is  this  consciousness  in  man,  and  external  sacrifice,  as  a  prayer  and  as  a  vow,  is  the 
confession  of  debt — a  debt  never  paid. 

But  as  the  heathen,  by  reason  of  his  carnal  mind,  changed  God's  symbols  into  myths 
(Rom.  i.  21),  so  also  he  changed  sacrifice  into  a  pretended  meritorious  service,  and  as  he  had 
acted  against  nature  and  his  myths,  his  sacrifices  became  abominable.  On  the  contrary, 
theocratic  sacrifice  was  exalted  until  it  found  its  solution  in  the  holy  human  life  of  Christ. 
This  exaltation  was  accomplished  by  a  clearer  explanation  of  its  spiritual  meaning  by  the 
word  of  God,  whilst  heathen  sacrifice  was  covered  with  gross  misinterpretation,  and  given 
over  to  the  corruption  of  demons.  The  first  explanation  of  sacrifice  is  found  in  the  revela-' 
tion  and  promise  which  precede  sacrifice ;  the  second,  in  the  principal  of  all  sacrifices,  the 
Passover-lamb,  the  spiritual  meaning  of  which  is  plainly  told  (Ex.  xii.  26) ;  the  third,  in 
the  distinctions  and  appointments  of  separate  sacrifices  in  their  relation  to  definite  spiritual 
conditions;  the  last  explanation,  in  prophecy  accompanying  the  sacrifice. 

As  respects  the  significance  of  the  sacrifices,  we  distinguish  a  legal,  social  and  judicial, 
a  symbolic,  with  special  purpose  of  instruction,  and  a  typical,  prophetic  significance.  The 
legal  aspect  of  sacrifice  consists  in  the  offerer's  maintaining  or  restoring  his  legal  relation  to 
the  theocratic  people.  This  maintenance  of  law  as  respects  the  people  by  sacrifice  Pharisa- 
ism charged  to  the  acquiring  of  merit  before  God,  and  many  in  these  days  have  attributed 
this  heathen  conception  to  sacrifice. 

The  symbolic  significance  of  sacrifice  is  the  chief  point  of  worship  by  sacrifice.  The 
offerer  expresses  by  the  sacrifice  his  obligation  to  render  in  spirit  and  in  truth  the  same  sur- 
render which  is  represented  by  the  animal  to  be  sacrificed,  that  is,  his  sacrifice  is  a  visible 
act  representing  a  higher  and  invisible  act,  to  wit,  his  confession,  his  vow  and  prayer,  as  the 
act  of  faith  in  hope  with  which  he  receives  his  absolution  in  hope  {Trapemc,  Eom.  iii.).  The 
typical  significance  of  sacrifice  corresponds  to  the  general  character  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  type  is  a  description  of  that  which  is  to  come  in  prefigurative  fundamental  thought. 
And  since  the  religion  of  Israel  was  a  religion  looking  to  the  future,  all  its  aspects  were  pre- 
monitions of  its  future.  We  distinguish  typical  persons,  typical  acts,  typical  customs  and 
mental  types.  At  the  centre  stand  typical  institutions,  whose  inner  circle  is  sacrifice,  and 
the  ultimate  centre  the  sacrifice  of  atonement  on  the  great  day  of  atonement.  Mental  types 
form  the  transition  to  oral  prophecy,  and  often  surround  oral  prophecy  with  significant 
expression  as  the  calyx  the  bursting  flower  (Gal.  iii.  16). 

THE  DESIGN   OP  SACRIFICE. 

The  design  of  sacrifice  was  its  fulfilment  in  New  Testament  times.  Similarly  the  law 
of  worship  as  well  as  the  law  of  the  state  was  not  abolished  by  being  destroyed,  but  was  ele- 
vated, exalted  to  the  region  of  the  Spirit. 

Thus  Christ,  in  the  first  place,  is  the  High  Priest  (see  Ep.  to  Hebr.),  and  the  Temple 
(John  ii.),  yea,  the  mercy-seat,  llaar^piov,  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  brought  out  of  the  Holy 
of  Holies,  and  set  before  all  men,  that  all  may  draw  near  (Rom.  iii.,  see  Comm.).  Every 
kind  of  sacrifice  is  fulfilled  in  Him;  He  is  the  true  Passover  (John  i.  29;  1  Cor.  v.  7),  the 


THE  PURPOSES  OF  SACRIFICE  AND  THE  VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  SACRIFICES.  39 

great  burnt-offering  for  humanity  (Eph.  v.  2),  the  altar  of  incense  by  His  intercession  (John 
xvii. ;  Heb.  V.  7);  He  is  the  trespass-offering  (Isa.  liii.)  and  the  sin-offering  (2  Cor.  v.  21; 
Eom.  viii.  3) ;  on  one  side  the  curse  (Gal.  iii.  13),  on  the  other  the  peace-offering  in  His  Sup- 
per (Matt.  xxvi.  26),  the  sanctified,  sacrificial  food  of  believers  (John  vi.).  As  He  by  entrance 
into  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  heaven  has  become  the  Eternal  High  Priest  (Heb.  is.  10),  so  He 
accomplished  His  life-sacrifice  by  the  eternal  efficacy  of  the  eternal  Spirit.  In  Him  was  per- 
fected the  oneness  of  priest  and  sacrifice. 

The  High  Priesthood  of  Christ  imparts  a  priestly  character  to  believers  (1  Petl  ii.  9). 
By  union  with  Christ  they  are  built  up  a  spiritual  temple  (1  Cor.  iii.  16 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  6),  their 
prayer  of  faith  is  an  entrance  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  (Rom.  v.  2),  and  they  take  part  in  the 
sufferings  of  Cbrist  in  their  spiritual  suffering  in  and  for  the  world  (Eom.  vi. ;  Col.  i.  2-1). 
They  keep  the  true  Passover  (1  Cor.  v.),  which  is  founded  upon  the  circumcision  of  the 
heart,  regeneration  (John  iii.).  They  consecrate  their  lives  as  a  whole  burnt-offering  to  God 
in  spiritual  worship  (Rom.  xii.  1),  and  offer  the  incense  of  prayer;  they  are  a  holy,  separate 
people  by  their  seclusion  from  the  world,  a  sacrifice  for  others  (Heb.  xiii.  13),  as  opposed  to 
the  unholy  separation  of  the  world  from  God.  By  repentance  they  partake  of  the  condem- 
nation which  Christ  endured  for  them,  and  find  their  life  in  His  sin-offering  and  atonement, 
whilst  they  pray  for  deliverance  from  guilt,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  also  for  others  (tho 
Eord's  prayer) ;  they  enjoy  their  portion  of  the  great  sacrifice  of  peace  and  thanksgiving, 
and  in  life  and  death  present  themselves  as  a  thank-offering.  This  life  grows  more  and 
more  manifest  as  life  in  the  eternal  priestly  spirit,  which  is  proved  by  obedience  and  conse- 
cration. 

THE  PUEPOSE  OF  SACRIFICE  AND  THE  VAEIOUS  KINDS  OF  SACRIFICES. 
The  Purpose. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  sacrifices  of  the  Israelites  were  not  derived  from  rude 
and  untaught  men,  but  that  they  presuppose  circumcision  or  typical  regeneration,  and  com- 
mence with  the  celebration  of  the  Passover,  that  is,  of  typical  redemption.  Hence  it  is  just 
as  one-sided  to  behold  in  each  bloody  sacrifice  an  expression  of  desert  of  death,  on  account 
of  the  blood,  which  signifies  life,  and  not  death,  and  as  sacrificial  blood  signifies  the  conse- 
cration of  the  life  to  God  through  death,  as  it  is  to  deny  that  each  sacrifice,  even  of  thanks- 
giving, presupposes  the  sinfulness  of  man  as  a  liability  to  death,  and  that  therefore  each  the- 
ocratic sacrifice  is  of  symbolical  significance. 

Israel  predestinated  to  be  the  holy  people  of  tho  holy  God,  built  upon  a  holy  foundation, 
the  covenant  with  Jehovah,  should  ever  be  holy  unto  Him.  This  holiness  presupposes  typi- 
cal purity.  Hence  this  holy  life  must  be  surrounded  with  the  discipline  of  the  law  of  puri- 
fication. This  holiness  consists  on  the  one  side  in  utter  rejection  of  sin  and  of  that  which  is 
unholy;  on  the  other  side,  in  positive  consecration  to  God;  and  both  these  aspects  concur 
in  every  sacrifice  (John  xvii.).  AVe  can  distinguish  between  the  negative,  exclusive  sacri- 
fices (trespass-offering,  sin-offering  and  atoning  sacrifices),  to  which  belong  also  the  restora- 
tive sacrifices,  and  the  positive  consecrating  sacrifices  (burnt-offerings,  peace-offerings  and 
food-offerings).  But  the  distinction  between  the  ideas  of  sin  and  guilt  must  precede  that 
between  the  different  kinds  of  sacrifices.  Sin  is  opposition  to  law  regarded  as  a  purely  spi- 
ritual state;  guilt  is  sin  conceived  in  its  whole  nature,  in  its  consequences,  a  burdensome 
indebtedness  which  calls  for  satisfaction,  suffering,  expiation  or  atonement.  Sin  of  to-day  is 
guilt  to-morrow,  and  perchance  forever.  The  father's  sin  becomes  the  guilt  of  the  family. 
The  sin  of  the  natural  man  falls  as  guilt  on  the  spiritual  man.  Sin  is  ever  guilt,  and,  by 
reason  of  the  social  nature  of  man,  it  falls  not  only  on  the  transgressor,  but  also  on  his 
neighbors.  Guilt  also  is  generally  sin ;  but  in  individuals  it  may  be  reduced  to  the  minimum 
of  sin  and  indebtedness.  In  the  sphere  of  love,  through  sympathy  it  falls  as  a  burden 
most  upon  the  less  guilty  and  the  innocent  through  the  medium  of  natural  and  historical 
connection ;  hence  the  touch  of  a  dead  body  made  one  unclean.  The  sinner  must  suffer, 
and  his  innocent  companion  must  suffer;  but  the  suffering  of  the  sinner,  while  he  persists  in 
sin,  is  quantitative,  dark,  immeasurable,  while  the  suffering  of  his  companion  is  qualitative. 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


illumined  and  efficacious  expiation  (CEdipus,  Antigone),  and  thus  there  are  innumerable 
subordinate  atonements  in  the  history  of  the  world  which  point  to  the  only  true  atonement. 

With  sharper  indication  of  their  relations,  we  can  distinguish  three  kinds  of  sin :  1.  Sins, 
which  not  only  bring  guilt  upon  the  tiansgressor,  but  also  cast  a  burden  of  guilt  on  others; 
2.  Guilt,  which  arises  from  the  connection  of  the  sinner  with  the  usages  of  the  world ;  3. 
Trano-ressions,  in  which  both  of  the  above  kinds  more  or  less  inhere,  yet  so  that  the  idea  of 
error  is  pre-eminent  {'^^P)-  A  certain  degree  of  error  and  possible  exculpation  was  com- 
mon to  all  sins  committed  unwittingly,  not  in  conscious  antagonism  (with  uplifted  hand) ; 
these  were  objects  of  theocratic  expiation,  and  did  not  make  the  transgressor  a  curse 
(cherem). 

As  regards  this  curse  (cherem),  it  may  be  asked,  how  far  it  belongs  to  the  category  of 
sacrifice,  as  it  is  the  antithesis  of  all  sacrifices?  Doubtless  just  so  far  as  it  is  made  sacred  in 
accordance  with  the  decree  of  God,  and  not  as  an  object  given  over  to  a  miserable  destruc- 
tion. Hence  this  curse  (cherem)  is  not  an  absolute  destruction,  but  only  a  conditional  de- 
struction in  this  world.  Among  the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians  who  were  made  cherem  on 
the  night  of  the  Passover,  there  may  have  been  innocent  little  children.  The  Canaanites 
were  made  cherem  because  they  were  an  insuperable  stumbling-block  to  Israel.  Even  on 
the  great  day  of  atonement,  when  all  the  sins  of  which  the  people  were  unconscious  were  to 
be  put  away,  there  yet  remained  a  hidden  remnant  of  unpardonable  sins,  an  anathema  in 
Israel,  which  was  sent  away  with  the  goat  of  Azazel  to  Azazel  in  the  wilderness,  not  as  a 
theocratic  sacrifice,  but  as  a  curse  together  with  Azazel*  under  the  decree  of  God  (1  Cor.  v. 
3-5).  Thus  the  curse  in  Israel  sank  out  of  sight  into  the  depths  of  its  life  till  it  brought 
Christ  to  the  cross  in  spite  of  all  Levitical  expiations.  Then  by  the  victory  of  grace  the 
vapzaiQ  became  a^eaif. 

THE  VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  SACEIFICES. 

The  Chief  Sacrifices  by  Fire ;  the  Burnt-Offering  and  the  Leaser  Sin-Offerings  and  Trespass- 
Offerings.   Lev.  i.  and  Hi. 

The  burnt-ofiering  derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  wholly  burnt  (''''73),  only 
excepting  the  excrement.  So  also  the  real  sin-offering.  Yet  this  distinction  marks  a  con- 
trast ;  the  burnt-offering,  its  fat  and  flesh,  was  burned  on  the  brazen  altar ;  while  of  the  sin- 
ofiering  of  him  who  had  brought  guilt  on  others  (Lev.  iv.  3)  only  the  fat,  which,  like  the 
blood  (and  the  kidneys  and  caul),  especially  belonged  to  the  sanctuary,  was  burned  on  the 
altar;  but  of  the  sin-ofleriug  of  a  priest,  or  of  the  whole  congregation,  the  entire  body  (the 
skin,  flesh,  etc.,  ch.  iv.  11)  was  burned  without  the  camp  on  the  ash-heap  in  a  clean  place. 
The  flesh  of  the  sin-offering  of  a  prince  or  of  a  common  man  was  not  burned  (the  priest 
should  eat  it,  ch.  vi.  26) ;  only  the  fat  was  burned.  In  thank-off'erings  the  fat,  kidneys  and 
caul  were  burned.  Of  the  meal-ofierings  only  a  handful  was  burned,  the  rest  was  for  the 
priest;  but  the  meal-offering  brought  by  a  priest  was  wholly  burned,  as  was  all  the  incense 
with  each  meal-offering.  The  lesser  sin-offerings  were  treated  just  as  the  trespass-oflTerings 
(ch.  V.  6) ;  the  poor  man  brought  a  pigeon  or  a  dove  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  one  for  a  sin- 
offering.  In  the  class  of  trespass-offerings,  in  which  trespass  and  sin  coincide  (ch.  v,  15  f ), 
the  burning  took  place  just  as  in  the  lesser  trespass  and  sin-offerings  ;  the  flesh  was  the 
priests'.  These  offerings  were  also  burdened  with  regulations  of  restoration  and  compensa- 
tion. More  prominent  still  is  the  burning  on  the  day  of  atonement  of  the  goat  which  fell  to 
Jehovah  by  lot;  as  a  sin-offering  of  the  congregation  it  was  wholly  burned.  The  red  heifer, 
slaughtered  and  cut  in  pieces  without  the  camp  was  also  without  the  camp  wholly  burned 
(Num.  six.  3).  The  extreme  contrast  to  these  is  found  in  the  burning  of  the  remnants  of 
the  Passover,  which  seem  to  have  served  in  a  certain  way  as  an  illumination  of  the  Passover- 
night. 

The  offerings  by  fire  form  a  contrast  to  the  offerings  of  blood,  the  offerings  by  death, 
since  they  indicate  the  extinction  of  life  by  divine  interposition.  This  interposition  may  be 
that  of  love  and  of  the  Spirit,  taking  up  Elijah  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  or  that  of  condemnation. 


PEACE  OFFERINGS. 


burning  up  the  cities  which  were  accursed,  the  bodies  of  those  stoned  to  death  (Josh.  vii.  26) 
and  the  bones  of  malefactors. 

The  burning  of  the  red  heifer  was,  bj  these  flames  of  the  curse  (cherem),  to  the  Israelites 
a  warning  that  the  unclean  must  be  cleansed  with  the  water  for  purification,  which  was  min- 
gled with  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer  as  a  sin-offering  (Num.  xix.  9). 

Either  the  one  fire  or  the  other,  says  Christ  (Mark  ix.  43-19).  Hence  it  is  the  calling 
of  the  Christian  to  ofler  his  life  as  the  burnt-offering  of  love  and  of  the  Spirit  under  God's 
leading,  not  willfully,  but  willingly,  in  accordance  with  the  symbolic  representation  of  sac- 
rifice. 

THE  OFFEKIXGS  OF  BLOOD,  THE  GREAT  SIX-OFFERI^-GS,  TEESPASS-OFFERIXGS  AND 
SACRIFICES  OF  EXPIATION. 

With  some  commentators  the  offerings  by  fire  retreat  in  just  the  degree  in  which  the 
offerings  of  blood  become  prominent;  with  others  the  offerings  by  fire  ard  those  of  blood  are 
equally  prominent. 

Blood  is  the  symbol  of  life  and  the  soul ;  hence  the  positive  statement  of  the  Lord  con- 
cerning life  and  death  (Lev.  xvii.  11).  But  the  offering  of  blood  expresses  the  giving  up  of 
the  sinful  life  to  God  through  the  death  decreed  by  God,  which  is  the  wages  of  sin. 

The  gradations  in  the  movement  of  the  sacrificial  blood  towards  the  mercy-seat  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies  mark  the  solemn  progress  from  devoted  suffering  of  death  to  real  atonement. 
The  blood  of  the  burnt-offering  remained  in  the  court ;  it  was  sprinkled  upon  the  altar.  The 
blood  of  the  lesser  sin-offering  was  partly  poured  upon  the  brazen  altar  and  partly  put 
upon  the  horns  of  the  same  altar.  This  appears  to  be  the  regulation  also  for  the  trespass- 
offering. 

The  greater  sin-offerings,  the  offerings  for  the  priest  who  had  sinned,  or  for  the  whole 
congregation,  seem  to  be  the  especial  offerings  of  blood.  In  these  only  a  part  of  the  blood 
is  poured  out  on  the  brazen  altar ;  the  other  part  was  carried  into  the  sanctuary,  and  not 
only  were  the  horns  of  the  golden  altar  touched  with  it,  but  the  priest  was  to  sprinkle  of  this 
blood  seven  times  towards  the  curtain  before  the  Holy  of  Holies.  With  what  reserve  and 
timidity  is  the  hopeful  longing  after  the  perfected  typical  atonement  expressed  in  this  act 
(ch.  iv.  1-21). 

On  the  great  day  of  atonement  the  blood  of  atonement  came  into  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
First,  Aaron  must  atone  for  himself  with  the  blood  of  the  bullock  by  significant  symbolical 
sprinklings  (ch.  xvi.  14).  Then  he  must  atone  for  the  sanctuary,  because  it,  in  a  typical 
sense,  is  answerable  for  the  uncleanness  of  the  children  of  Israel  and  for  their  transgression, 
that  is,  this  sacrifice  was  to  supplement  the  imperfection  of  all  ritual  atonements,  and  by  that 
point  prophetically  to  the  true  sacrifice. 

PEACE-OFFERINGS. 
These  offerings  which  are  divided  into  the  three  classes,  of  thanksgiving  and  praise- 
offerings,  of  offerings  because  of  vows,  and  of  offerings  of  prosperity  or  contentment  (ch.  vii.), 
have  little  in  common  with  the  offerings  by  fire  or  the  offerings  of  blood.  The  fat  on  the 
intestines,  the  two  kidneys  with  their  fat,  and  the  caul  upon  the  liver  were  to  be  burned. 
The  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  altar  round  about.  The  priest  received  his  portion  of  the 
flesh  as  well  as  of  the  meal-offering,  of  which  a  part  was  burned  on  the  altar.  The  remainder 
was  for  the  offerer  and  his  friends  to  feast  upon.  The  thank  or  praise- offering  was  to  be 
held  as  especially  sacred.  None  of  it  was  to  be  left  till  the  next  day.  This  occasioned  the 
calling  in  of  poor  guests.  Both  the  other  offerings  might  remain  for  a  feast  on  the  second 
day,  but  not  on  the  third.  All  remains  of  the  peace-offerings  were  to  be  burned  ;  they  were 
thus  distinguished  from  common  feasts.  These  individual  solemn  offerings  point  to  the  fes- 
tival offerings  in  a  wider  sense.  Festival-offerings  in  a  wider  sense  are  those  in  which  com- 
munion with  God  is  celebrated.  The  first  general  festival-offering  is  the  Passover,  the  offer- 
ing of  communion  with  God  through  redemption;  the  second  general  festival-offering  ap- 


42  SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 

pears  at  the  extraordinary  solemnization  of  the  legislation  on  Sinai  (Ex.  xxiv.  11),  and  was 
continued  by  ordinance  in  the  new  meal-offering  at  Pentecost  (Lev.  xsiii.  16),  and  then  in 
the  weekly  offering  of  the  show-bread,  which  was  brought  every  Sabbath  in  golden  dishes 
according  to  the  number  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  (Ex.  xxv.  30;  Lev.  xxiv.  5,  6;  Num.  iv.  7; 
1  Sam.  xxi.  6).  The  burnt  offerings  of  usual  worship  were  always  attended  by  their 
meal  and  drink-offerings  (Lev.  xxiii.).  Besides  these  meal  and  drink-offerings  of  usual  wor- 
ship, there  were  also  the  special  meal  and  drink-offerings. 

THE  COXCKETE  FORMS  OF  OFFERINGS. 

The  originally  simple  or  elementary  forms  of  offerings  become  concrete  forms  of  offerings 
through  the  religious  idea.  In  the  bloody  offerings  man  brings  to  Jehovah  his  possession ; 
in  the  unbloody,  the  meal  and  drink-offerings,  he  brings  the  support  of  life.  The  best  of  his 
possessions  and  the  best  of  his  food  are  the  expressions  of  the  devotion  of  his  whole  being, 
with  all  that  he  possesses  and  enjoys.  Hence  each  offering  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  an  epitome 
of  all  the  other  offerings.  This  universality  appears  most  plainly  in  that  offering,  which  is 
the  foundation  of  all  the  rest,  the  Passover  lamb.  The  great  fire-offering,  or  burnt-offering, 
which  forms  the  centre  of  all  offerings,  is  supplemented  by  various  kinds  of  meal-offerings, 
which  are  again  supplemented  by  oil,  salt  and  incense.  But  since  the  meal-offering  in  great 
part  was  given  to  the  priest,  it  became  a  peace-offering,  except  the  meal-offering  of  the  priest. 
The  drink-offering  is  peculiarly  an  expression  of  this  totality,  for  it  was  not  drunk  in  the 
temple-enclosure,  but  was  poured  out  on  the  altar.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  Passover,  the 
cup  is  the  centre  of  the  feast.  Even  in  the  great  sin-offering,  the  chief  parts  of  which  were 
burned  without  the  camp,  as  a  cherem,  besides  the  expiation  by  sprinkling  of  the  blood,  the 
fat  of  the  animal  was  made  a  burnt-offering ;  but  of  the  lesser  sin-offerings  and  trespass-offer- 
ings a  part  was  taken  as  food  for  the  priest.  Besides  the  concrete  acts  of  sacrifice,  the  ele- 
mentary forms  are  also  represented ;  the  meal-offering  with  the  drink-offering  in  the  show- 
bread,  the  fire-offering  in  the  daily  burnt-offering,  the  peace-offering  in  the  slaughtering  of 
animals  for  food  before  the  tabernacle  finally  the  cherem  in  theocratic  capital  jjunishment. 
Over  the  offering  rose  the  offering  of  incense  as  the  symbol  of  prayer. 

It  is  plain  from  the  distinct  expressions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  (Ps.  cxli.  2 ;  Rev.  viii. 
4)  that  the  offering  of  incense  upon  the  golden  altar  is  a  symbolical  and  typical  representa- 
tion of  the  sacrifice  of  prayer.  The  basis  of  th,e  incense-offering  is  the  incense  of  the  offer- 
ings which  rose  from  the  sacrificial  fires,  "the  sweet  savor,"  Eph.  v.  2,  particularly  of  the 
burnt-offering.  There  was  no  burnt-offering  without  incense,  for  no  consecration  to  God  is 
complete  without  a  life  of  prayer,  and  this  life  of  prayer  was  the  soul  of  the  offering.  Hence 
it  is  placed  in  a  class  by  itself,  in  the  incense-offering  on  the  altar  of  incense  (Ex.  xxx.  7, 
10).  And  for  this  reason  also  it  accompanies  the  various  offerings,  the  meal-offering  and 
drink-offering  (Lev.  ii.  16),  and  the  offering  of  show-bread  (Lev.  xxiv.  7).  Finally  the  offer- 
ing of  incense  appears  most  prominently  in  connection  with  the  offering  on  the  great  day  of 
atonement.  Then  the  high-priest  was  to  envelop  himself  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  a  cloud 
of  incense  lest  he  die  (Lev.  xvi.  1.3).  Thus  the  offering  of  incense  constantly  pointed  towards 
the  spiritualization  of  the  offering,  that  is,  from  the  law  to  prophecy. 

THE  ORGANISM  OF  SACRIFICIAL  "n-ORSHIP. 

All  the  various  phases  are  contained  in  the  Passover-offering.  The  fact  is  important, 
that  in  the  offering  of  the  Passover  the  father  of  the  family  acted  as  priest.  The  idea  of  the 
universal  priesthood  therefore  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  offerings,  and  this  proves  that  the 
office  of  the  priesthood  was  only  a  legal  and  symbolical  representation  of  the  whole  people. 

The  atoning  blood,  with  which  the  door-posts  of  the  house  were  smeared,  was  the  fnost 
important  part  of  the  Passover-offering.  On  one  side  of  this  was  the  cherem,  the  slaying 
of  the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians  ;  on  the  other  side  was  the  peace  or  thank-offering  of  which 
the  family  partook  in  the  Passover  meal.  On  the  one  side  were  the  slaughterings  of  animals 
for  food  before  the  tabernacle  and  the  use  of  them  in  the  meal  at  home ;  on  the  other,  the 


OFFERINGS  EXPRESSIVE  OF  COMMUNION-. 


legal  cherem  of  theocratic  capital  punishment  extended  in  the  death  bringing  curse  which, 
with  the  fall,  came  upon  all  men.  The  most  important  part  of  the  Passover  was  concluded 
by  the  burning  of  the  remains  of  the  feast. 

From  this  basis  are  developed  the  various  divisions  of  the  offerings,  to  be  united  again 
in  the  single  apex  of  the  great  offering  of  atonement  in  connection  with  the  feast  of  taberna- 
cles. By  this  apes  Old  Testament  offerings  point  beyond  themselves,  making  a  plain  dis- 
tinction by  means  of  the  goats  between  pardonable  sin  and  unpardonable  sin,  which  was 
given  over  to  the  wilderness  and  Azazel.* 

Between  the  basis  and  the  apes  of  the  offerings  are  found  their  numerous  divisions.  We 
distinguish  between  initiative,  that  is,  offerings  at  times  of  consecration,  and  those  expressive 
of  communion,  and  offerings  at  times  of  restoration,  with  a  parallel  distinction  between  ordi- 
nary and  extraordinary  offerings.  The  distinction  between  bloody  and  unbloody  offerings, 
or  meal  offerings,  belongs  to  the  offerings  espressive  of  communion.  The  meal-offerings  and 
drink-offerings  may  be  regarded  as  the  best  expression  of  communion.  They  are  connected 
with  the  burnt-offerings.  One  of  the  chief  distinctions  is  found  between  the  usual  offerings 
in  the  worship  of  the  congregation  and  the  casual  offerings.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  a 
correspondence  between  the  prohibition  of  unclean  animals  and  that  of  some  unbloody 
objects  (honey,  leaven). 

1.  OFFERINGS  AT  TIMES   OF  CONSECRATION. 

1.  The  covenant-offering  consisting  of  burnt-offerings  and  tliank-offerlngs  (Ex.  xxiv.  5) 
performed  by  young  men  from  the  people ;  2.  The  heave  offering,  or  tax  for  the  building  of 
the  tabernacle  (Ex.  sxxv.  5) ;  3.  The  anointing  of  the  tabernacle,  its  vessels,  and  the  priests 
(Ex.  xl.:  Lev.  viii.);  4.  The  offerings  at  the  consecration  of  the  priests,  consisting  of  the 
sin-offering,  the  burnt-offering,  and  the  offering  of  the  priest  for  thanksgiving  (Lev.  viii.), 
and,  in  connection  with  these,  the  offerings  of  the  people  as  priests  (Lev.  ix.  3;  ch.  xv.) ;  5. 
The  offerings  of  the  princes,  as  heads  of  the  state  and  leaders  in  war,  for  the  temple-treasury 
(Num.  vii.  1 ;  the  offerings  at  the  consecration  of  the  Levites  (Num.  viii.  6) ;  the  offerings 
for  the  candlestick  and  the  table  of  show-bread  (Lev.  xxiv.). 

2.  OFFERINGS  EXPRESSIVE   OF  COMMUNION. 

a.  Continual  Offerings  in  the  Temple  by  the  Congregation. 

1.  Daily  offerings  (the  fire  never  to  be  put  out,  Lev.  vi.  13). 

2.  Sabbath-offerings. 

3.  Passover.    Daily  offerings  for  seven  days.    The  sheaf  of  first-fruits,  Lev.  xxiii. 

4.  Pentecost.  The  wave-loaves.  A  burnt-offering  of  seven  lambs,  two  young  bullocks, 
one  ram,  a  he-goat  for  a  sin-offering,  two  he-lambs  for  a  thank  offering. 

5.  Day  of  Atonement,  the  great  Sabbath  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month.  Lev. 
xxiii.  The  atoning  offering  of  this  day  plainly  belongs  to  the  restorative  offerings.  The 
feast  of  tabernacles  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  seventh  month.  Daily  offerings  for  seven  days 
from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath.     Fruits,  branches  of  palm  trees,  green  boughs. 

By  the  sabbatie  year  and  year  of  jubilee  the  symbolic  offerings  pass  into  figurative  ethi- 
cal acts  (Lev.  xxv.).  So  also  the  tithes  form  a  transition  from  the  law  of  worship  to  the 
civil  law,  or  rather  indicate  the  influence  of  ecclesiastical  law  in  the  state. 

Offerings  expressive  of  communion,  closely  considered,  are  those  from  which  the  priests 
received  their  portion  as  food.  Of  these  the  principal  was  the  show-bread ;  then  the  meal- 
offerings  and  various  other  offerings. 

*  (The  author,  together  with  many  commentators,  regards  the  word  azojef,  which  occurs  only  in  Lev.  xvi.  8, 10,  26  as 
a  proper  name.  Its  position  of  antithesis  to  "  Jehovah  "  lends  some  color  to  this  assuraptioD.  But  with  equal  exactness  of 
philoln^ry,  it  may  he  a  common  noun,  meaning  "removal,"  or  "utter  removal."  If  we  assume  it  to  be  a  proper  name, 
we  enter  into  difficulties  of  interpretation  that  are  insuperable:  if  we  take  it  as  a  common  noun,  the  meaning  and  inter- 
pretation are  very  plain  and  simple.— H.  0.] 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


b.  Individual,  Casual  and  Free-will  Offerings  expressive  of  Communion. 

The  centre  between  the  preceding  and  this  division  is  formed  by  the  Passover,  supple- 
mented by  the  little  Passover  (Num.  ix.),  which  was  at  the  same  time  universal  and  indivi- 
dual. Connected  with  it  in  universality  is  the  offering  of  the  Nazarite  (Num.  vi.  13  f.,  burnt- 
offering,  sin-offering,  thank-offering). 

In  the  middle  stands  the  burnt-offering. 

On  one  side  of  the  burnt-offering  stand  the  peace-offerings,  of  three  kinds. 

a.  Offerings  in  payment  of  vows. 

b.  Thank-offerings. 

c.  Offerings  of  prosperity. 

Beyond  these  were  the  slaughtering  of  animals  for  food  before  the  tabernacle,  which 
bore  some  similarity  to  a  sacrifice,  and  marked  the  food  of  flesh  as  a  special  gift  from  God. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  burnt-offering  stand  the  sin-offerings  and  trespass-offerings,  of  three 
kinds. 

a.  Sin-offerings. 

b.  Trespass-offerings,  related  to  trespasses  that  became  sin. 

c.  Trespass-offerings  in  the  strict  sense. 

Beyond  these  was  the  curse,  the  cherem.  The  transition  to  the  cherem  was  formed  by 
the  burnings  without  the  camp,  as  of  the  great  sin-offerings,  and  particularly  of  the  red 
heifer  from  which  the  water  for  sprinkling  was  prepared  (Num.  xis.). 

3.    RESTORATIVE  OFFERINGS,  RESTORING  COMMUNION. 

The  series  of  these  offerings,  which  were  preceded  by  purification,  begins  with  the  offer- 
ing of  women  after  child-birth  (Lev.  xii.).  This  was  followed  by  the  offering  of  the  healed 
leper  and  the  offering  for  houses  cleansed  of  leprosy  (Lev.  xiii.  and  xiv.).  All  offerings  of 
restoration  culminate  in  the  mysterious  offering  of  the  great  day  of  atonement  (Lev.  xvi.). 
To  the  casual  offerings  of  this  kind  belong  the  offering  of  jealousy  and  the  water  causing  the 
curse  (Num.  v.  12  f ) ;  the  offering  of  a  Nazarite  made  unclean  by  contact  with  a  dead  body 
(Num.  vi.  10) ;  the  water  mingled  with  the  ashes  of  a  red  heifer  (Num.  xix.).  The  cherem 
serves  to  distinguish  the  capital  punishment  with  which  those  who  sinned  with  uplifted  hand 
were  threatened,  from  the  offerings  for  atonement  of  those  who  sinned  unwittingly,  in  order 
to  restore  the  purity  of  the  people.  Death  is  threatened  against  all  conscious  opposition  to 
the  law,  whether  of  omission  or  of  commission ;  the  symbolic,  significant  putting  away  from 
the  congregation  of  the  living. 

The  common  offerings,  the  wave-offering  and  heave-offering,  the  tithes  for  the  offerings, 
and  the  supply  of  the  oil  for  the  light  are  closely  connected  with  the  life  of  the  Israelite  con- 
gregation, in  which  everything  becomes  an  offering,  the  first-fruits  of  the  field,  the  first-born 
of  the  house,  the  tithes  of  the  harvest,  the  host  for  war.  The  extraordinary  offerings  exhibit 
the  tendency  of  the  offering  towards  a  realization  in  the  ideal  offering.  The  P.assover  and 
the  offerings  at  times  of  consecration,  the  offerings  of  the  Nazarite,  the  offering  of  the  red 
heifer,  and  even  the  oflering  of  jealousy,  were  designed  to  exhibit  the  ideal  host  of  God. 
The  offering  of  atonement,  of  all  the  oflerings  in  this  class,  encloses  within  itself  the  most 
complete  types. 

THE    MATERIAL  OF  THE  OFFERINGS  AND    THE    CORRESPONDENCE    OF  THE    OFFERING  TO 
THE  GUILT. 

The  chief  of  these  is  the  Passover-lamb  according  to  the  legal  conditions  (Ex.  xii.).  The 
burnt-offering  was  to  consist  of  a  male  animal  without  blemish  (Lev.  i.  2).  For  spiritual 
worship  there  was  required  the  manly  spirit  of  positive  consecration  (Eom.  xii.  1).  Even 
when  the  offerer  brought  a  sheep  or  a  goat  it  must  be  a  male  (Lev.  i.  10).  But  the  poor, 
instead  of  these,  might  bring  doves  or  young  pigeons.  The  sin-offering  of  the  anointed 
priest,  as  well  as  that  of  the  whole  congregation,  was  a  young  bullock.    The  sin-offering  of 


THE  PORTIO>'S  Of  THE  OFFERINGS  FOR  THE  PRIESTS.  46 

a  prince  must  be  a  male ;  when  from  the  flock,  it  must  be  a  he-goat.  On  the  other  hand 
one  of  the  common  people  might  offer  a  female,  a  she-goat ;  a  very  important  scale  of 
responsibility  for  transgressions.  The  transgression  of  the  high-priest  was  equivalent  to  the 
transgression  of  the  whole  congregation,  and  greater  than  the  transgression  of  a  prince. 

For  the  simple  trespass-oflering  the  least  was  required,  a  female  of  the  flock,  sheep  or 
goat ;  or,  when  from  the  poor,  two  doves  or  young  pigeons ;  and,  if  he  was  not  able  to  get 
these,  he  might  bring  the  tenth  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour.  But,  for  trespass-oflerings,  which 
were  ordained  for  great  transgressions,  a  ram  must  be  brought,  and  in  addition  to  the  resto- 
ration of  that  which  was  unjustly  acquired,  the  fifth  part  of  the  same  must  be  given.  This 
tax  is  uniform  as  respects  affairs  of  the  Church,  religious  laws  and  private  property.  In 
peace-offerings  it  was  optional  with  the  offerer  to  offer  an  animal  of  the  herd  or  of  the  flock, 
male  or  female,  provided  that  it  was  entirely  without  blemish.  The  meal-offerings  consisted 
of  fine  flour,  uncooked,  or  baked,  or  roasted,  with  the  accompanying  oil  and  frankincense 
and  salt.     Honey  and  leaven  were  prohibited. 

At  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eight  days  of  conse- 
cration, a  bullock  was  offered  as  a  sin-offering  and  a  ram  as  a  burnt-ofiering ;  in  addition  to 
these,  a  ram  of  consecration  (Lev.  viii.  22)  and  "out  of  the  basket  of  unleavened  bread  that 
was  before  the  Lord"  "one  unleavened  cake,  one  cake  of  oiled  bread  and  one  wafer;"  and 
at  the  end  of  the  eight  days  there  was  offered  a  young  calf  as  a  sin-offering  and  a  ram  as  a 
burnt-offering.  The  congregation  of  Israel  also  offered  a  he-goat  as  a  sin-offering,  and  a  calf 
and  a  lamb  of  a  year  old  as  a  burnt  offering.  And,  as  expressive  of  the'estimation  of  the 
priesthood  by  the  congregation,  they  offered  a  bullock  and  a  ram  as  a  thank-ofiering.  Even 
on  the  great  day  of  atonement  the  high-priest  must  first  atone  for  himself  with  a  young  bul- 
lock as  a  sin-offering  and  a  ram  as  a  burnt-offering.  But  the  congregation,  as  a  confession 
of  their  subordinate  and  less  responsible  spiritual  position,  offered  two  he-goats  as  a  sin- 
offering,  and  a  ram  as  a  burnt-offering. 

THE  EITTJAL  OF  THE  OFFERINGS. 

For  the  ritual  of  the  Passover,  see  this  Comm.,  Matt.  xxvi.  17-30.  For  the  ritual  of  the 
ofierings  generally,  we  refer  to  works  on  archaeology  and  our  exegesis.  The  duties  of  the 
offerer  were:  1.  The  right  choice  of  the  animal;  2.  To  bring  it  to  the  priest  in  the  court  of 
the  tabernacle ;  3.  To  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  animal  as  the  expression  of  his 
making  the  animal  the  typical  substitute  of  his  own  condition  and  intention ;  4.  To  slay  the 
animal;  5.  To  take  off  the  skin.  The  duties  of  the  officiating  priest  were :  1.  The  reception 
of  the  blood  and  the  sprinkling  of  it;  2.  The  lighting  of  the  fire  on  the  altar;  3.  The  burn- 
ing of  the  animal,  and  with  this,  4.  Cleansing  the  altar  and  keeping  the  ashes  clean.  Spe- 
cially to  be  marked  are :  1.  The  gradations  of  the  burning ;  2.  The  gradations  of  the  sprin- 
kling of  the  blood ;  3.  The  gradations  of  the  solemnity  of  the  feast ;  4.  The  gradations  of 
the  cherem. 

THE  PORTIONS  OF  THE   OFFERINGS  FOE  THE  PRIESTS. 

The  greater  part  of  the  meal-offerings  was  given  to  the  priest ;  but  his  own  meal-ofiering 
he  must  entirely  burn  up  Lev.  vi.  23.  The  flesh  of  the  sin-offerings  (except  the  great  sin- 
offering  of  a  priest  or  of  the  whole  congregation,  Lev.  vi.  20)  was  given  to  the  priest  who 
performed  the  sacrifice ;  only  the  holy  could  cat  it  in  a  holy  place  Lev.  vi.  27.  and  the 
same  was  true  of  the  trespass-offering,  Lev.  vii.  7  ;  comp.  the  directions  concerning  the  meal- 
offering,  ver.  9.  Of  the  burnt-offering  the  priest  received  the  skin,  Lev.  vii.  8.  Of  the  meal- 
offerings  connected  with  the  peace-offerings  the  priest  received  his  portion.  Lev.  vii.  14.  Of 
the  thank-offering  he  received  the  breast  and  the  right  shoulder,  Lev.  vii.  31,  33.  These 
portions  of  the  offerings  could  support  only  those  priests  who  officiated  in  the  temple,  not 
their  families,  or  the  priests  who  were  not  ofiiciating.  Their  support  they  received  under 
the  ordinance  respecting  payments  in  kind,  particularly  the  tithes  paid  by  the  people. 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


THE    STRICTNESS    OF    THE    RITUAL     OF    THE     OFFERINGS    AS    THE    EXPRESSION    OF    THE 
DISTINCTNESS  AND   IMPORTANCE  OP  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE   OFFERINGS. 

As  respects  the  Passover,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  law  threatened  death  to  those 
who  should  in  the  seven  days  of  unleavened  bread  eat  bread  that  wxs  leavened,  and  thus 
typically  obliterate  the  dividing  line  between  light  and  darkness.  The  significance  of  the 
unleavened  bread  is  the  separation  of  the  life  of  the  Israelites  from  the  worldly,  heathen, 
Egyptian  life.  Leaven  is  also  excluded  from  the  meal-offerings,  not  because  in  itself  it  rep- 
resents the  unclean  and  the  evil  (see  this  Comm.,  Matt,  xiii.),  for  at  Pentecost  two  leavened 
loaves  were  offered  upon  the  altar.  Lev.  sxiii.  17,  but  because  in  the  holy  food  all  participa- 
tion in  the  common  worldly  life  even  of  Israel  should  be  avoided.  Thus  too  honey  is  strin- 
gently prohibited  from  the  meal-offering,  probably  as  an  emblem  of  Paradise,  which  was 
typified  by  Canaan,  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey ;  and  so  it  was  an  expression  of 
the  fact,  that  in  Paradise  offerings  should  cease,  Lev.  ii.  11.  The  assertion  that  leaven  and 
honey  were  prohibited,  because  of  their  quality  of  fermentation,  is  at  variance  with  the  per- 
mission of  wine.  The  portion  of  the  meal-offerings  accruing  to  the  priests  were  to  be  eaten 
only  by  them  in  the  temple-enclosure;  for  it  represented  communion  with  the  Lord.  There 
was  also  a  decided  prohibition  against  eating  of  the  thank-offering  on  the  third  day  after  it 
was  offered,  Lev.  vii.  18.  Also  no  unclean  person  should  eat  of  the  flesh  of  the  offering,  nor 
should  one  eat  of  the  flesh  of  an  offering  which  had  become  unclean ;  it  must  be  burned  with 
fire.  A  sacred  feast  of  two  days  might  easily  become  secularized  by  the  third  day.  The 
Passover-lamb  must  be  eaten  on  the  first  day.  There  was  also  a  stringent  provision  that 
those  about  to  be  consecrated  as  priests  should  during  the  consecration  remain  seven  days 
and  nights  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  Lev.  viii.  35.  The  sons  of  Aaron,  Nadab  and 
Abihu,  were  smitten  with  death  because  they  brought  strange  fire  on  their  censers  before  the 
Lord.  The  service  in  the  sanctuary  excluded  all  self-moved  and  purely  human  excitation ; 
and  for  this  reason  the  sons  of  Aaron  were  to  drink  neither  wine  nor  any  strong  drink  during 
service  in  the  sanctuary  on  pain  of  death.  There  was  also  a  stringent  provision  that  the  high- 
priest  when  he  went  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  should  surround  himself  with  a  cloud  of  incense 
lest  he  die.  The  atonement  was  perfected  only  in  the  atmosphere  of  prayer,  Lev.  xvi.  Even 
over  the  common  slaughtering  of  animals  for  daily  food  there  was  the  threat  of  death. 
Unthankful  enjoyment  of  the  gifts  of  God  was  punished  with  death,  Lev.  xvii.  4;  and  so 
with  the  eating  of  blood.  Lev.  xvii.  10,  11.  Besides,  not  only  must  the  offerer  be  typically 
pure,  and  offer  only  that  which  was  typically  pure,  but  there  was  the  constantly  repeated 
requirement  that  the  animal  must  be  without  blemish  and  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
requirements  of  gender  and  age. 

Eating  blood  was  forbidden  because  it  bore  the  life,  the  life  of  the  flesh,  Lev.  xvii.  10. 
The  fat  also  of  beasts  fit  for  sacrifice  was  appointed  for  sacrifice ;  it  belonged  to  the  Lord, 
Lev.  iii.  17 ;  vii.  2.3,  26 ;  xvii.  6.  As  respects  the  offering  for  atonement  particularly,  we 
must  refer  to  the  exegesis.  The  special  point  to  be  marked  is  the  distinction  between  this 
offering  as  the  culmination  of  all  purifications  and  of  the  series  of  festivals. 

The  typical  contrast  between  clean  and  unclean,  on  which  all  the  laws  of  purifications 
rest,  is  of  great  significance.  See  the  treatise  of  Sommer  in  the  synopsis  of  the  literature. 
Uncleanness  was  the  ground  for  all  exclusions  from  the  holy  congregation,  and  delivering 
over  to  the  unholy  world  without.  Cleanness  was  the  warrant  of  adhesion  to  the  holy  con- 
gregation. The  particular  means  of  purification  was  lustration,  the  theocratic  type  which 
developed  into  the  prophetic  idea  of  sprinkling  with  clean  water,  into  John's  baptism,  and 
finally  into  Christian  baptism. 

The  heathen  having  been  previously  circumcised  might  by  lustration  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  theocratic  congregation,  and  gradually,  under  the  influence  of  this  fact,  the  court 
of  the  Israelites  was  enlarged  for  a  court  of  the  Gentiles.* 

*  [If  by  "lustration"  the  author  means  sprinkling,  that  wa^  ordained  only  in  certain  specitied  cases  for  those  already 
within  the  congregation,  i.  e.,  at  the  cleansing  of  the  leper,  Lev.  xiv.;  at  the  consecration  of  the  Levites,  Numb.  viii.  7,  and 
at  the  cleansing  of  the  Israelites  made  unclean  by  touching  a  dead  body,  Numb.  xiz. — H.  O.J 


THE  STRICTNESS  OF  THE  RITUAL  OF  THE  OFFERINGS,  ETC.  47 

Corresponding  to  the  classification  of  clean  and  unclean  men  was  that  of  clean  and 
unclean  animals.  The  conceptions  of  the  Pharisees  concerning  washing  with  unclean  hands 
as  well  as  the  antiquated  ideas  of  Peter,  Acts  x.,  show  us  how  the  idea  of  cleanness,  as  well 
as  the  idea  of  the  law  itself,  might  become  materialized.  It  is  not  unimportant  that  the  first 
form  of  uncleanness,  the  uncleanness  of  a  woman  in  childbirth,  appears  as  a  fruit  of  the 
excess  of  natural  life.  With  this  excess  of  life  correspond  diseases.  Among  unclean  ani- 
mals are  found,  on  the  one  side,  those  most  full  of  life ;  on  the  other  side,  those  which  creep. 
Cleanness  by  cleansing  in  water  is  only  negative  holiness ;  it  became  positive  only  through 
sacrifice.  For  holiness  has  two  sides :  separation  from  the  unholy  world  and  consecration  to 
the  service  and  fellowship  of  the  holy  God.  On  the  laws  of  purification  see  Joachim  Lange, 
Mosaisches  Licht  unci  Recht,  p.  673  f  That  all  the  holy  observances  are  connected  with  that 
requiring  purity  of  blood,  and  consequently  of  the  relations  of  the  sexes,  is  undeniably  of 
great  significance.  Concerning  the  forbidden  degrees  of  intermarriage  we  must  refer  to  the 
exegesis  and  the  worlds  on  this  subject,  especially  to  those  of  Spoendli  and  Thiersch.  We 
must  also  mention  the  noble  codex  of  theocratic  duties  of  humanity.  Lev.  xix.  It  is  only  in 
the  light  of  these  laws  of  humanity  that  the  punitive  laws.  Lev.  xx.,  are  rightly  seen.  They 
are  in  the  service  of  ideal  humanity  not  less  than  the  others.  The  theocratic  sanctity  of  the 
priest.  Lev.  xxi.,  is  quite  another  picture  of  life,  like  the  sanctity  of  the  priest  after  Gregory 
VII.  and  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

We  must  refer  to  the  Exegesis  and  an  abundant  literature  respecting  the  ordinances  of 
the  beautiful  festivals  of  Israel,  and  respecting  the  special  emphasis  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
light  in  Jehovah's  sanctuary  and  the  prophetic  and  typical  Jubilee  of  the  year  of  Jubilee. 
The  antithesis  of  the  proclamation  of  the  blessing  and  the  curse  assures  us,  that  here  we  are 
dealing  with  realities  which  must  continue  though  the  religious  interpretation  of  them  should 
entirely  cease.  The  law's  estimate  of  the  vow  points  to  the  sphere  of  freedom,  in  which 
everything  is  God's  own,  committed  to  the  conscientious  keeping  of  man. 

NUMBERS. 

The  most  important  points  in  the  first  section  of  the  book  of  Numbers  are  the  following: 
1.  The  typical  significance  of  the  Israelite  army ;  2.  The  significance  of  the  service  of  the 
Levites  with  the  army  and  in  the  tabernacle ;  3.  Rules  for  preserving  the  camp  holy ;  4.  The 
offering  of  jealousy  and  the  water  which  brought  the  curse,  or  the  hindrances  of  married  life 
in  the  holy  war;  5.  The  vow  of  the  Nazarite,  or  the  significance  of  the  self-denying  warriors 
in  the  holy  war;  6.  The  free-will  offerings  of  the  princes  (chief  men  and  rich  men) ;  7.  The 
care  of  the  sanctuary ;  8.  Worship  in  the  wilderness  and  God's  guidance  of  the  host,  ch.  ix. ; 
9.  The  signals  of  war  and  of  peace,  the  trumpets. 

After  the  commencement  of  the  march  we  are  brought  to  see  the  sinfulness  of  God's 
host,  their  transgressions  and  punishments  in  their  typical  significance;  especially  the  home- 
sickness for  Egypt ;  the  seventy  elders  to  encourage  the  people  as  a  blessing  in  this  distress. 
Against  this  blessing  stands  in  contrast  their  calamity  in  eating  the  quails.  Mixed  marriage 
on  its  bright  side,  ch.  xii.  Concerning  the  spies,  the  abode  in  Kadesh,  the  rebellion  of  Korah 
and  his  company,  the  significance  of  the  mediation  of  Aaron  and  of  his  staff"  that  blossomed, 
of  the  rights  of  the  priests  and  Levites,  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer,  and  the  failure  of  Moses 
at  the  water  of  strife,  we  must  refer  to  the  Exegesis. 

For  our  views  with  respect  to  the  second  departure  from  Kadesh,  which  we  trust  will 
serve  to  correct  some  errors,  we  must  refer  to  the  exegetical  sections  on  (he  King  of  Arad, 
the  passage  of  the  brooks  of  Arnon,  the  over-estimated  prophecies  of  Balaam,  the  great  dan- 
ger of  Israel's  addiction  to  a  worship  of  lust,  and  especially  the  revision  of  the  views  con- 
cerning the  stations  of  the  march,  ch.  xxxiii. 

The  second  census  of  the  people  illustrates  the  necessity  and  value  of  theocratic  statistics. 
The  daughters  of  Zelophehad  form  a  station  in  the  history  of  the  development  of  the  rights 
of  women— rights  which  had  been  greatly  marred  by  sin.  The  ordering  of  the  festivals  in 
the  book  of  Numbers  shows  us  that  the  solemn  festivals  are  also  social  festivals,  and  that 
they  are  of  great  significance  in  the  life  of  the  people  and  in  the  state.  The  subordination 
of  the  authority  of  woman  in  respect  to  the  family,  to  domestic  offerings,  to  external  affairs. 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


is  of  special  signiScance  for  our  times  when  woman  has  well-nigh  freed  herself.  Concernmg 
the  war  for  vengeance  on  the  Midianites,  we  must  also  refer  to  the  E.xegesis.  The  treatment 
of  the  tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh  was  a  master-piece  of  theocratic 
policy  as  well  as  a  strong  testimony  to  the  great  blessing  of  the  nation's  unity.  Ihe  Old 
Testament  limits  and  enclosure  of  the  law  by  the  boundaries  of  Canaan  is  also  a  testimony 
a-ainst  the  claims  of  the  absolute  supremacy  of  the  law.  Concerning  the  legal  signifi- 
cance of  the  free  cities,  seel  the  Exegesis.  The  close  of  this  book  which  treats  of  the 
state  significantly  protects  the  rights  of  the  tribes,  and  illustrates  a  doctrine  of  signal  impor- 
tance for  churches,  states  and  nationalities  in  strong  contrast  with  the  notion  of  old  and  new 
Babel  that  the  uniformity  of  the  world  is  the  condition  and  soul  of  the  unity  of  the  world. 
The  plan  of  encampment  will  be  seen  by  the  following  sketch : 


EPHRAIM,  40,500. 
MANASSEH,  35,200.  BENJAMIN,  35,4 


TABEKKACI.E. 


ZEBUION,  75,000.  IS3ACHAR,  64,400. 

.JUDAH,  74,000. 


This  despite  severe  criticism,  proves  itself  by  certain  marks  to  be  a  very  ancient  record 
Benjamin  is  separated  from  Judah,  and  is  under  the  leading  of  Ephraim.  Nothing  is  said 
of  a  division  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  and  its  position  is  far  from  that  of  Eeuben  and  Orad. 
Ephraim  appears  as  one  of  the  smaller  tribes. 

The  abundant  care  for  the  poor  in  Israel  has  been  treated  at  length  by  Zeller,  buper- 
intendent  of  the  School  for  the  Poor  in  Beuggen,  in  the  MonatsUail  von  Beuggen,  August, 
1845  No  8.    On  Kadesh  see  Tuch  on  Gen.  xiv.  in  Zeitschrifl  der  deuischen  morgenlandischen 


THEOLOGICAL  LITERATURE  OF  THE  THREE  BOOKS. 


Gesellschaft,  1847,  p.  179  f.  Also  see  the  articles  on  Kadesh  in  Herzog's  Encychpsdie  and 
ScHEifKEL's  Bibellexicon.  The  most  important  works  on  the  Book  of  Numbers  are  quoted 
as  occasioa  requires;  G.  D.  Krummacher;  Menken,  Die  eheme  Schlange;  Hengsten- 
BERG,  Balaam;  KiEHii,  et  al.  See  also  Danz,  Vniversalworterbuch,  p.  699.  Winer,  I., 
p.  202. 

THEOLOGICAL    LITERATURE    OF  THE    THREE    BOOKS. 

See  this  Comm.,  Indexes  of  the  Literature  in  Introduction  to  Gen.  and  to  Matt.; 
Heidegger,  Enchiridion,  p.  15 ;  Walch,  Biblioih.  iv.  437  ;  Winer,  134  ff.,  202 ;  Appendix, 
p.  27-31 ;  Danz,  p.  745  fF.;  Suppl.  p.  81;  Hartwig's  Tabellen,  p.  29;  Hagenbach,  pp  186, 
199 ;  Works  by  J.  J.  Hess,  Kcinoel,  G.  L.  Bauer,  De  Wette,  Jost,  Leo,  Bertheau, 
EwALD,  Lesgerke  and  others.  Later,  BuNSEN's  Bibdwerk,  Djjchsel's  Bibelwerk,  Bres- 
LAU,  Duelfer.  Comprehensive  treatises  on  the  three  books  are  found  in  histories  of  Old 
Testament  religion,  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  in  compendiums  of  biblical  theology.  We 
must  also  include  in  this  list  the  writings  of  Josefhus,  Philo,  Origen,  Edsebius,  Jeeome 
and  others  which  refer  to  this  subject. 

Lexicons. — Schenkel's  Bibellexicon. 

Biblical  Theology. — Bruno  Bauer,  Religion  des  Alien  Testaments:  Vatke,  Baur, 
Schultz,  von  der  Goltz;  Ewald,  Die  Lehre  der  Bibel  von  Oott,  Vol.  I.;  Die  Lehre  vom 
Worte  Gottes,  Vol.  II. ;  Die  Glaubenslehre,  erste  haelfte,  Leipzig,  1871 ;  Diestel,  Geschichte 
des  Alien  Testaments  in  der  Ckristlichen  Kirche,  Jena,  1869 ;  Zahn,  Ein  Gang  durch  die 
Heilige  Geschichte,  Gotha,  1868 ;  Baur,  Geschichte  der  alttestamenllichen  Weissagung,  1  Theil, 
18G1;  Ziegler,  Historische  Entwicklung  der  goltlichen  Offenbarung ;  De  Wette,  Die  biblische 
Geschichte  als  Geschichte  der  Offenbarung  Gottes,  Berlin,  1846. 

Consult  the  works  of  earlier  writers,  as  Aretius,  Brenz,  Grotius,  Osiander,  Dathe, 
Vater,  Hart.mann.  Five  Books  of  JUoses,  Berleburyer  Bibel,  new  cd.,  Stuttgart,  1856; 
Clericcs  on  Pentateuch,  Amsterdam,  1G93;  Joachim  Lange,  Mbsaisches  Licht  und  Recht : 
Hengstenberg,  Christology  of  the  Old  Testament,  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses,  Balaam,  Die 
Opfer  der  Heiligen  Schrift,  Die  Geschichte  des  Reiches  Gottes ;  Bleek,  Introduction  to  the  Old 
Testament;  'B AV MG AKTES,  Kommentar  zum  Alten  Testament,  2  Theile;  Kurtz,  History  of 
the  Old  Covenant,  3  vols.;  Knobel,  Kommentare  zu  Exodus,  Leviticus  und  Numeri;  Keil 
and  Delitzsch,  Biblical  Commentary,  Pentateuch,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edinburgh. 

Works  by  Jews. — Salvador,  Hisfoire  des  Institutions  de  Moyse  et  du  peuple  hebreiix,  3 
vols.,  Paris,  1828;  Philippson,  Die  Israeliiische  Bibel,  Der  Pentateuch,  Leipzig,  1858; 
ZUNZ,  Uebersetzung  des  Alien  Testaments;  R.  S.  Hirsch,  Der  Pentateuch  itberseizl  und  erldu- 
tert,  Frankfurt,  a.m.,  1867-9;  Harzheimer,  Die  24  Biccher  der  Bibel,  Pentateuch,  Leipzig; 
Mandelbauji,  Die  Bibel  neu  itberseizl  und  erkldrt,  Einleitung  in  dem  Pentateuch,  Berlin, 
1864. 

Historical  Works.— Arnaud,  Le  Pentateuch  mosaique,  defendu  contre  les  attaques  de  la 
critique  negative,  Paris,  1865 ;  Fuerst,  Geschichte  der  biblischen  Literalur,  2  Biinde,  Leipzig, 
1867 ;  H.  Wright,  Tlie  Pentateuch  with  *  *  Translation,  specimen  part,  Gen.  i.-iv.,  London, 
1869;  Braem,  Israel's  Wanderung  von  Gosen  bis  zmot /S'mai,  Elberfeld,  1859;  Colenso,  The 
Pentateuch,  1863  (a  sample  of  traditional,  abstractly  literal  interpretation).  In  opposition  to 
Colenso,  Pie  Historic  Character  of  the  Pentateuch  Fmrfica<ec?,  Lond.,  1863;  The  ATosaic  Ori- 
gin of  the  Pentateuch,  by  a  Layman,  London,  1864;  Graf,  Die  geschichllichen  Biicher  des 
Alten  Testament^,  Leipzig,  1866;  Hitzig,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  Leipzig,  1869;  Ebees, 
Egypten  und  die  Biicher  Moses;  writings  of  Brugsch,  Lipsius  and  Gutschmid,  Beitrdge  zur 
Geschichte  des  Alten  Orients  zur  Wicrdigung  von  Bunsen's  Egypten,  1857;  J.  Braun,  Histo- 
rische Landschaften,  Stuttgart,  1867;  K.  VON  Rau.mer,  Der  Zug  der  Israeliten  aus  Egypten 
nach  Kanaan,  Langensalza,  1860;  Voelter,  Das  heilige  Land  und  das  Land  der  israelitschen 
Wandenmg ;  HoLTZJIANN  und  Weber,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel  und  der  Entsiehung  des 
Christenlhums,  Leipzig,  1867  ;  Noeldeke,  Die  alUesiamenlliche  Literatur  in  einer  Reihe  von 
Aufsdtzcn,  Leipzig,  1868;  Bunsen,  God  in  History;  BuscH,  Urgeschichle  des  Orients,  2 
Bande,  Leipzig;  Stier,  Heilsgeschichle  des  Alien  Testaments,  Halle,  1872;  Laborde,  Com- 
4 


SPECIAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  THUEE  BOOKS. 


mentaire  giographique  sur  VExode  et  les  Kombres,  Paris,  1841;  Faiebaiex,  The  Typology  0/ 
Scripture,  Edinburgh,  1854;  Mills,  Sacred  Symbology,  or  an  Inquiry  into  (he  Principles  of 
(he  Interprelation  of  (he  Prophetic  Symbols,  EdinhnTgh,  1853;  Beke,  Origines  liblicse,  Lon- 
don, 1854. 

Special  Treatises. — ^Eanke,  Untermchungen ;  'SETTEhBn,  Sludieniiber  die  ^chthei(des 
PentoteitcAs,  Miinster,  1867 ;  Kous,  Samariianische  Studien,  Breslau,  18GG;  Trip,  Theopha- 
nien  in  den  Geschichts  buchern  des  Allen  Testaments,  Leiden,  1858 ;  TuCH,  SinaUische  Inschrif- 
Cen,  Leipzig,  1S46;  AvplA.,  Essai  biographique  sur  Moyee,  Strasburg,  1853;  Chappuis,  Be 
I'ancicn  Testament,  consider^  dan  ses  Rapports  avec  le  Christianisme,  Lausanne,  1858;  Salo- 
mon, 3Ioses  der  Mann  Gottes,  1835;  Siegel,  Moses;  Boettcueb.,  E.-cegetische  JEhrenlese  zum 
Alien  Testament,  Leipzig,  1864 ;  Feiederich,  Zur  Hibel;  Haetmaxn,  Historisch  Kritische 
Jbrsc/iureg'c?i,  Berlin,  1831 ;  Hv'E'LlSi.i.iLjS'S,  Slaatsverfassung  der  Israeliten;  Uxger,  Chronolo- 
gic des  Manelho,  Berlin,  1866 ;  treatises  of  a  popular  character  by  Kirchlofee,  Staudt, 
Steglich,  Postel  and  others ;  special  articles  in  Herzog's  Encyclopsedie  and  in  the  Jahr- 
bucherfiir  deulsche  Theologie  from  1858-1872,  and  in  the  Sludien  und  Kritiken,  1872. 

On  Hebrew  art,  see  the  Archjeologies  by  Keil  and  others.  On  Hebrew  jjoetry  Lowth, 
Heeder,  Saalschuetz,  Sack,  Taylor. 

On  the  relation  of  the  Old  Testament  to  Assyria,  Scheadee,  Die  Keilinschriften  und 
das  Alle  Testament,  Giessen,  1S72, 


EXODUS. 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  MOSES. 

(nitSiy  nSsi;    'E^odo^:  Exodus.) 


THE    PEOPHETICO-MESSIANIC   THEOCEACY— OR   THE  GENESIS,  REDEMPTION 
AND  S.^XTIFICATION  OF  THE  COVENANT  PEOPLE. 


FIRST  DIVISION :    MOSES  AND  PHARAOH. 

THE  TYPICALLY  SIGNIFICANT  EEDEMPTinN  OF  ISRAEL  OCT  OF  HIS  SEEVITUDE  I!J  EGYPT  AS  PRELI- 
MINABT  CONDITION  OF  AND  PREPARATION  FOR  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  TYPICAL  KINGDOM 
OF  GOD  (THE  THEOCRACY)  BY  MEANS  OP  THE  MOSAIC  LEGISLATION — OE  THE  THEOCRATIO 
FOUNDATION    FOR  THE   LEGISLATION   OF   ALL   THE   THREE    BOOKS. 

Chapters  I.— XVIII. 


FIRST  SECTION. 

The  Genesis  of  the  Covenant  People  of  Israel,  of  their  Servitude,  and  of  the  Fore- 
tokens of  their  Redemption  as  one  people.  An  analogue  of  the  Development  of 
Mankind  as  a  unit,  of  their  Corruption  and  the  Preparation  for  their  Salvation. 
The  calling  of  Moses  and  his  twofold  Mission  to  bis  people  and  to  Pharaoh. 

Chaps.  I.— VII.  7. 

A.— GROWTH  AND  SERVITUDE  OF  THE  ISRAELITES  IX  EGYPT— AND 
PHARAOH'S  PURPOSE  TO  DESTROY  THEM. 

Chap.  I.  1-22.* 

1  Now  these  are  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  which    [who]    came  into 

2  Egypt;  every  man  and  his  household  came  with  Jacob:  Keuben,  Simeon,  Levi, 
3,4  and  Judah ;   Issachar,  Zebulun,  and  Benjamin;   Dan,  and  Naphtali,  Gad  and 

5  Asher.     And  all  the  souls  that  came  out  of  the  loins  of  Jacob  were  seventy  .«ouls ; 

6  for  [and]  Joseph  was  in  Egypt  already.     And  Joseph  died,  and  all  his  brethren, 

7  and  all  that  generation.  And  the  children  of  Israel  were  fruitful,  and  increased 
abundantly,  and  multiplied,  and  waxed  exceeding  mighty,  and  the  land  was  filled 

8  with  them.     Now  [And]  there  arose  a  new  king  over  Egypt  which  [who]  knew  not 

9  Joseph.     And  he  said  unto  his  people.  Behold,  the  people  of  the  children  of  Israel 
10  are  more  and  mightier  than  we.      Come  on  [Come],   let  us   deal  wisely   [pru- 
dently'] with  them,  lest  they  multiply,  and  it  come  to  pass  that,  when  there  falleth 

TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  10.  n^Snnj.    Lange,Gcseniu3,Arnheim,andPliiIippson, translate  this  M6erZis(en,"pi]tvi'"    r-'  "     'T-'hp. 

form  occurs,  besides  here,  only  in  Eccl.  Tii.  16,  and  there  has  the  signification  proper  to  the  ITitli]' 

«  [The  Anthoriz.-d  Version  is  followed  in  the  translation  from  the  Hebrew,  except  that  "  Jehov...,  1- 

stituted  for  "th*' Lord."    In  other  cases,  where  a  change  Id  the  translation  is  thought  to  be  di^siraM  ,  t       i     ,  '  a- 

datiyn  is  inserted  in  brackets. — Tr] 


2  EXODUS. 

out  any  war  [when  a  war  occurreth],  they  join  also  [they  also  join  themselves]  unto 
our  enemies,  and  fight  against  us,  and  so  get  them  up  [and  go  up]  out  of  the 

11  land.  Therefore  they  did  set  [And  they  appointed]  over  them  taskmasters,  to 
afflict  them  with  their  burdens  ;  and  they  built  treasure-cities  [store-'cities]  for  Pha- 

12  raoh,  Pithom  and  Raemses.  But  the  more  [lit.,  And  as]  they  afflicted  them  the 
more  [lit.,  so]  they  multiplied  and  grew  [spread].     And  they  were  grieved  because 

13  of  [horrified  in  view  of]  the  children  of  Israel.     And  the  Egyptians  made  the  chil- 

14  dren  of  Israel  to  serve  with  rigor.  And  they  made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard 
bondage  [service]  in  mortar  and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field; 
all-  their  service  wherein  they  made  them  serve  was  [which  they  laid  on  them] 

15  with  rigor.  And  the  king  of  Egypt  spake  to  the  Hebrew  midwives  (of 
which  [whom]  the  name  of  one  was  Sliiphrah,  and  the  name  of  the  other  Puah), 

16  And  he  said,  When  ye  do  the  office  of  a  midwife  to  [When  ye  deliver]  the  He- 
brew women,  and  see  them  [then  look]   upon  the  stools ;  if  it  be  a  son,  then  ye 

17  shall  kill  him ;  but,  if  it  be  a  daughter,  then  she  shall  live.  But  the  midwives 
feared  God,  and  did  not  as  the  king  of  Egypt  commanded,  but  [and]  saved  the 

18  men-children  alive.     And  the  king  of  Egypt  called  for  the  midwives,  and  said  unto 

19  them.  Why  have  ye  done  this  thing,  and  have  saved  the  men-children  alive  ?  And 
the  midwivfes  said  unto  Pharaoh,'  Because  the  Hebrew  women  are  not  as  tbe  Egyp- 
tian, for  they  are  lively  [vigorous],  and  are  delivered  ere  the  midwives  come  in 

20  unto  them  [before  the  midwife  coraeth  in  unto  them,  they  are  delivered].  There- 
fore [And]  God  dealt  well  with  the  midwives,  and  the  peoijle  multiplied,  and  waxed 

21  [grew]  very  mighty.     And  it  came  to  pass,  because  the  midwives  feared  God,  that 

22  he  made  them  houses  [households].  And  Pharaoh  charged  all  his  people,  saying, 
Every  son  that  is  born  ye  shall  cast  into  the  river,  and  every  daughter  ye  shall 
save  alive. 


self  wise,  to  act  the  part  of  a  wise  man.  Here,  therefore,  it  is  better  to  render  it  in  nearly  the  same  way.— njS'lpj^,  a 
plural  verb  with  a  singular  subject.  Knobel,  following  the  Samaritan  version  (UXIpH),  translates  wird  u?m  trefen,  ■'  shall 
befall  us."    But  there  is  no  need  of  this  assumption  of  a  corrupt  text.    See  Ewald,  Aiisf.  Gram.,  J  191  c— Tb.J. 

2  [Ver.  14.  Lange,  with  many  others,  takes  ns  here  as  a  preposition,  meaning  "  together  with,"  "besides."  and  sup- 
plies "  other  "  before  "  service."  Grammatically  this  is  perhaps  easier  than  to  take  it  (as  we  have  done*  as  the  sign  of  the 
Ace.    But  it  requires  us  to  supply  the  word  on  which  the  whole  force  of  tbe  clause  depends.— Tr.]. 

3  [Ver.  19.  Lange  translates,  unaccountably,  n^^3~7X  as  being  equivalent  to  a  genitive:  die  Hebamnun  des  Pharaoh, 
"  Pharaoh's  midwives."— Ta.]. 

more  prudent  (more  cunning)  than  tbey,"  is  the 
language  of  despotic  cmftiness  and  malice.  Des- 
potic policy  adds,  that  in  case  of  a  war  the  peo- 
ple might  join  the  enemy.  A  danger  to  the 
country  might  indeed  grow  out  of  the  fact  that 
the  Israelites  did  not  become  Egyptianized.  The 
power  of  Israelitish  traditions  is  shown  espe- 
cially in  the  circumstance  that  even  the  descend- 
ants of  Joseph,  though  they  had  an  Egyptian 
mother,  certainly  became  Jews.  Perhaps  it  was 
disiilie  of  Egyptian  manners  which  led  the  sons 
of  Ephraim  early  to  migrate  towards  Palestine, 
1  Chron.  vii.  22.  An  honorable  policy  would, 
however,  have  provided  means  to  help  the  Jews 
to  secure  a  foreign  dwelling-place. 

Ver.  11.  Taskmasters. — The  organs  of  op- 
pression and  enslavement.  "That  foreigners 
were  employed  in  these  labors,  is  illustrated  by 
a  sepulchral  monument,  discovered  in  the  ruins 
of  Thebes,  and  copied  in  the  Egyptological  works 
of  Rosellini  and  Wilkinson,  which  repr.esents 
laborers,  who  are  not  Egyptians,  as  employed  in 
making  brick,  and  by  them  two  Egyptians  with 
rods,  as  overseers ;  even  though  these  laborers 
m.ay  not  be  designed  to  represent  Israelites,  as 
llieir  Jewish  features  would  indicate"  (Keil). 
See  also  Keil's  reference  to  Aristotle  and  Livy, 


ESEGETICAL  AND   CEITICAL. 

Vers.  1-'.  Fulfillment  of  the  promise,  Gen. 
xlvi.  3.  Also  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  of  suf- 
fering for  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  Gen. 
XV.  13. 

Vers.  2-4.  The  names  of  the  children  are 
given  according  to  the  rank  of  the  mothers.  So 
Gen.  XXXV.  25-:l6. 

Ver.  6.  The  small  number  of  seventy  souls 
{vid.  Gen.  xlvi.27)  who  entered  Egypt,  illustrates 
the  wonderful  increase.  At  the  exodus  600,000 
men,  besides  children,  etc.  Vid.  ch.  xii.  37.  On 
the  terms  denoting  increase,  l^']'!?';  n3  13'1'_ 
see  Gen.  i.  28;  viii.  17. 

Ver.  8.  A  new  king. — Dj:5^  has  a  special 
significance.  He  rose  up,  as  a  man  opposed  to 
the  previous  policy.  The  LXX.  translate  tyin 
by  ETcpog.  Josephus  and  others  inferred  the  rise 
of  a  new  dynasty, — 'Who  knew  not  Joseph, 
i.  e.j  cared  nothing  for  his  services  and  the  re- 
sults of  them,  the  high  regard  in  which  his  peo- 
ple had  been  held. 

Vers.  9,  10.  "  They  are  greater  and  stronger 
than  we,"  says  despotic  fear.     "Come,  let  us  be 


CHAP.  II.  1-25. 


(p.  422)*  on  the  despotic  method  of  enfeebling  a 
people  physically  and  mentally  by  enforced  labor. 
Store-cities. — For  the  harvests.  See  Keil  (p. 
4-22)  on  Pithom  (Gr.  Udroruoc,  Egypt.  Thou, 
Thoum),  situated  on  the  canal  which  connects 
the  Nile  with  the  Arabian  gulf.  Raemses,  the 
same  as  Heroopolis. 

Ver.  12.  Horror  is  the  appropriate  designa- 
tion of  the  feeling  with  which  bad  men  see  the 
opposite  of  their  plans  wonderfully  brought 
about.  Hengstenberg:  Sit  halten  Ekel  vor  ihnen. 
"  They  were  disgusted  at  them."  But  this  was 
the  case  before.     On  yip  see  the  lexicons. 

Vers.  13,  14.  Aggravation  of  the  servitude. 
Two  principal  forms  of  service.  Brickmaking 
for  other  buildings,  and  field  labor.  The  bricks 
were  hardened  in  the  hot  Egypt ian  sun ;  the  field 
labor  consisted  especially  in  the  hard  work  of 
irrigating  the  soil. 

Vers.  15-18.  Second  measure.  Resort  to  bru- 
tal violence,  but  still  concealed  under  demoniacal 
artifice.  Probably  there  was  an  organized  order 
of  midwives,  and  the  two  midwives  mentioned 
were  at  their  head. — He  aaid  anto  them. — 
And  again :  he  aaid.  He  tried  to  persuade 
them,  and  at  last  the  devilish  command  came 
out — probably  secret  instructions  like  those  of 
Herod,  to  kill  the  children  in  Beihleliem.— Over 
the  bathing-tub.  [So  Lange.— Tr.].  Knobcl 
and  Keil  assume  a  figurative  designation  of  the 
vagina  in  the  phrase  D'33Xn,  referring  to  Jer. 
xviii.  3.  Since  the  child  is  generally  born  head 
first,  there  is  only  a  moment  from  the  time  when 
the  sex  can  be  recognized  to  the  use  of  the  bath- 
ing-tub. On  the  various  interpretations,  oomp. 
the  lexicons  and  the  Studien  und  Kridken,  1834, 
S.  81.ff.,t  etc.     A  heathenish  way,  all  over  the 


TAri,, 


other  article  on  the  same  subject  ii 
ppriodical,  p.  641  sqq.,  by  Re(lsl"l>. 
tlii3  vexed  phrase  ara  the^io:  (1)  Tli 


world,  of  killing  the  males  and  forcing  the  wo- 
men and  girls  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the 
mode  of  life  of  the  murderers. 

Ver.  19.  "With  this  answer  they  could  deceive 
the  king,  since  the  Arab  women  bear  children 
with  extraordinary  ease  and  rapidity.  See 
Burckhardt,  N'otes  on  the  Bedouins  and  Wahabis, 
I.,  p.  96;  Tischendorf,  Rcise  I.,  p.  108,"   (Keil). 

Vers.  20,  21.  God  built  them  houses. — He 
blessed  them  with  abundant  prosperity.  Ac- 
cording to  Keil,  the  expression  is  figurative : 
because  they  labored  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
families  of  Israel,  their  families  also  were  built 
up  by  God.  Their  lie,  which  Augustine  excuses 
on  the  ground  that  their  fear  of  God  outweighed 
the  sinfulness  of  the  falsehood,  seems,  like  simi- 
lar things  in  the  life  of  Abraham,  to  be  the  wild 
utterance  of  a  state  of  extreme  moral  exigency, 
and  is  here  palliated  by  a  real  fact,  the  case  of 
parturition. 

Ver.  22.  Now  at  last  open  brutality  follows  the 
failure  of  the  scheme  intervening  between  arti- 
fice and  violence.  On  similar  occurrences  in 
profane  history,  see  Keil.  J  Probably  also  this 
command  was  paralyzed,  and  the  deliverance  of 
Moses  by  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  might  well 
have  had  the  effect  of  nullifying  the  king's  com- 
mand; for  even  the  worst  of  the  heathen  were 
often  terrified  by  unexpected  divine  manifesta- 
tions. 


of  aparturipnt  woman, 
dual  form  lioing  acfoiint 
belougeU  to  it.     \i)  Ihii 


Tlin 


atliing-tub.  the 


r3S,"'in 


the 


word  aa  is  used  (and  elsewhere  only  "^'''I  -  i"  -''T.  xviii. :'..  of 
a  potter's  wheel,  must  denote  the  same  liiiiii::;  or,  rattier,  tlio 
seat  on  which  the  potter  sits,  this  being  adapted  to  ihe  uao 


(wo  distinctions  (so  Mi-ior,  StUitien 

It  is  obvious  to  remark  that,  itt 

\  of  the  child,  tlie  thing  to  be  looked 

'      limu'-tiiN,  or  the  stool,  or  any  partof  the  mo- 

I        ■    M-iilemliuu  is  almost,  if  not  quite,  conclusive 

! !  -  c  [  lireo  interpretations.    But  it  is  perhaps  use- 

1  r  a  complete  eotntion  of  the  meaning  of  the 

'  X  1 1'rol.alily  a  slip  of  the  pen  for  Knohel.  See  his  com- 
I  meutiiiy  uii  Exodus,  p.  9,  in  the  Kurzgc/aata  ezegc'.itdu* 
I  UcMdbuch  sum  alten  TestattKat.—'ili.\. 


B.— THE  BIRTH  AND  MIRACULOUS  PRESERVATION  OF  MOSES.  HTS  ELEVATION  AND 
FIDELITY  TO  THE  ISRAELITES.  HIS  TYPICAL  ACT  OF  DELIVERANCE  AND  AP- 
PARENTLY FINAL  DISAPPEARANCE.  GODS  CONTINUED  PURPOSE  TO  RELEASE 
ISRAEL. 

Chap.  II.  1-2-5. 

1  And  there  went  a  man  of  the  house  of  Levi,  and  took  io  wife  a  [the]  daiifrhter  of 

2  Levi.'     And  the  woman  conceived  and  bare  a  son ;  and  when  she  [and  she]  saw 
him,  that  he  was  a  goodly  child  \iuas  goodly,  and]  she  hid  him  three  months. 


TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

■  [Ver.  1.  nx,  disregarded  by  the  most  of  the  commentators,  is  noticed  by  Glaire,  who  remarks  that  it  "  may  imply  that 


she  may  have  i 


3  And  when  she  coulil  not  longer  hide  him,  she  took  for  him  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  and 
daubed  it  with  slime  [bitumen]  and  with  pitch,  and  put  the  child  therein  ;  and  she 

4  laid  it  in  the  flags  [sedge]  by  the  river's  brink.     And  his  sister  stood  afar  off,  to 

5  wit  [in  order  to  learn]  what  would  be  done  to  him.  And  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh 
came  down  to  wash  herself  [bathe]  at  the  river ;  and  her  maidens  walked  along  by 
the  river's  side ;    and  when  she  [and  she]  saw  the  ark  among  the  flags  [sedge, 

6  and]  she  sent  her  maid  to  fetcli  it  [maid,  and  she  fetched  it].  And  when  she  had 
opened  it  she  [And  she  opened  it,  and]  saw  the  child,  and  behold,  the  babe  [a  boy] 
wept  [weeping].     And  she  had  compassion  on  him,  and  said,.This  is  one  of  the  He- 

7  brews'  children.  Then  said  his  sister  [And  his  sister  said]  to  Pharaoh's  daughter. 
Shall  I  go  and  call  to  thee  a  nurse  of  the  Hebrew  women,  that  she  may  nurse  the 

8  child  for  thee?     And  Pharaoh's  daughter  said  unto  her.  Go.     And  the  maid  went 

9  and  called  the  child's  mother.  And  Pharaoh's  daughter  said  unto  her,  Take  this 
child  away,  and  nurse  it  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy  wages.     And  the  woman 

10  took  the  child  and  nursed  it.  And  the  child  grew,  and  she  brought  him  unto  Pha- 
raoh's daughter,  and  he  became  her  son.     And  she  called  his  name  Moses  :  and  she 

11  said.  Because  I  drew  him  out  of  the  water.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days  when 
Moses  was  grown  [that  jMoses  grew  up],  that  [and]  he  went  out  unto  his  brethren, 
and  looked  on  their  burdens  ;  and  he  spied  [saw]  an  Egyptian  smiting  an  [a]  He- 

12  brew,  one  of  his  brethren.  And  he  looked  [turned]  this  way  and  that  way,  and 
when  he  [and  he]  saw  that  there  was  no  man  [man,  and]  he  slew  the  Egyptian 

13  and  hid  [buried]  him  in  the  sand.  And  when  he  [And  he]  went  out  the  second 
day  [day,  and]  behold,  two  men  of  the  Hebrews  [two  Plebrew  men]  strove  together 
[were  quarreling]  ;  and  he  said  to  him  that  did  the  wrong   [to  the  guilty  one], 

14  AVherefore  smitest  thou  thy  fellow?  And  he  said.  Who  made  thee  a  prince  aud  a 
judge  over  us  ?  Intendest  thou  to  kill  me,  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyptian  ?  Aud 
Moses  feared,  and  said,  Surely  this  [the]  tiling  is  known.  Now  when  [And]  Pha- 
raoh heard  this  thing,  [thing,  and]  he  sought  to  slay  Moses.  But  [Aud]  Moses 
fled  from  the  face  of  Pharaoh,  and  dwelt  in  the  laud  of  ilidian  ;  and  he  sat  down 

16  [dwelt']  by  a  [the]  well.   Now  the  priest  of  Midian  had  seven  daughters  ;  and  they 

17  came  and  drew  water,  and  filled  the  troughs  to  water  their  father's  flock.  And  the 
shepherds  came  and  drove  them  away ;  but  Moses  stood  up  aud  helped  them,  and 

18  watered  their  flock.     And  when  they  came  to  Keuel  their  father,  he  said.  How  is  it 

19  that  ye  are  [Vfherefore  have  ye]  come  so  soon  to-day?  And  they  said,  An  Egyp- 
tian delivered  us  out  of  the  hand  of  the  shepherds,  and  also  drew  ivater  enough' 

20  for  [drew  ivater  for]  us,  and  watered  the  flock.  And  he  said  unto  his  daughters.  And 
where  is  he  ?*  why  m  it  that  ye  have  [why  then  have  ye]  left  the  man  ?  call  him,  that 

21  he  may  eat  bread.     And  Moses  was  content  [consented*]  to  dwell  with  the  man; 

an  only  daughter.  Still  it  is  possible  tbat  DX,  thongh  almost  always  med  only  before  a  definite  object,  is  here  used  as  in 
xxi.  2S.  "  If  an  ox  gore  a  man  {i:;'N-j"IX)  or  a  woman  (ntyX-j"\N)-"  Comp.  EwaLds  KriUxhc  Grammalilc,  g  318,  Note 
(9).— Te.1. 

2  [Ver.  15.  Whether  the  second  aO'l  means  "and  he  sat  down,"  or  "and  he  dwelt,'"  is  not  tasily  determined.    It 
.  unnatural  that  the  word  should 'have  two  meanings  in  the  two  consecutive  sentences,  although  undoubtedly  it  is 


15  M 


Sewb«e  freely  nTdirboh  senses      nm  me.^nt  to  .ay  that  Moses,  while  dwelling  : 

S"ened  to  bl'LiZg  by  the  wX^^^^  a'cqn..in,ed  ^vi,l.  Reuers  da,,ghters,  he  would  probably  not  have  u«ed  the 

Future  with  the  Vav C.nsecutive,  but  rather  the  Perfect,  or  the  Participle.    Comp.  Ewald,  Au^akrl.  Gr^  i  341  a.-Ti..]. 

a  [Ver.  19.  hSt  riS'l-DJI-  Lange  translates :  Auch  hat  er  tmhaltettd  gixchUj^ft,  "Also  he  kept  drawing,"  as  if  the  Inf. 
Abs.  followed,  inst^eld  of  p^receding  hSi.  There  is  no  reason  for  assigning  to  the  Inf.  Abs.  here  any  other  than  its  common 
«so,  viz.,  to  emphasize  the  meaning  of  The  finite  verb.  Nor  does  the  rendering  of  the  A.  V.  "drew  water  ™o?rt,"  qnite 
reproduce  its  fi.rce.  The  daughtoFs  of  Eenel  evidently  thought  it  would  have  been  a  n^markable  occu.reuce  if  lUosts  had 
only  defended  them  from  the  shepherds.    But  more  than  this:  "ho  even  drew  for  us.  —IE. J. 

»  [Ver.  20.  i'lSl.  Kalisch  renders,  "  Where  then  is  he !"  Correctly  enough,  so  far  ae  the  sense  is  concerned  ;  bnt  trn- 
necessarily  deviating  from  the  more  literal  rendering  in  the  A.  V.,  whirh  exactly  expresses  the  force  of  the  original.-TR.]. 

»  [Ver.  21.  Ss'n.  Glaire  insists  that  in  all  the  p.assages  where  ^IN^  occurs,  even  where  it  has  the  meaning  "  to  be 
foolish,"  the  radical  menning  is  "to  venture."  Most  lexicograhpers  assume  a  separate  root  for  the  signification  which  it 
has  inNiph.,  "tu  be  foolish."  JVIeier  ( lVur=eiu.6r(er(/MC)0,  however,  reduces  all  the  significations  to  that  of  oi.ening  or 
«  being  open,"  from  the  root  ^W  _  SSh.  But  better,  with  Furst,  to  assume  two  roots,  and  make  the  radical  signification 
of  this  one  to  he  "  ,o  resolve,  determine"."  This  covers  all  cases,  e.  g.  Gen.  xviii.  27.  "I  have  resolved  "  f.  .'"°ff'^\';"- 
Jn.l..-.  i.  27,  "  The  Oana.mit-s  .letermined  to  dwell."  In  cases  like  the  one  before  us,  and  2  Kings  v.  li  ;  Jud-.  .MX.  6,  the 
rcBolutioD,  being  the  result  of  persuaflioo,  is  a  coiweni— Tr.]. 


CHAP.  II.  1-25. 


22  and  he  gave  ^Moses  Zipporah  his  daughter.  And  she  bare  him  a  [bare  a]  son,  and 
he  called  his  name  Gershom,  for  he  said,  I  have  been  a  stranger  [A  sojourner  have 

23  I  been]  in  a  strange  laud.  And  it  came  to  pass  m  process  of  time  [lit.  in  those 
many  days],  that  the  king  of  Egypt  died  ;  and  the  children  of  Israel  sighed  by  rea- 
son of  the  bondage  [service],  and  they  cried :  and  their  cry'  came  up  to  God  by  rea- 

24  son  of  the  bondage  [service].  And  God  heard  their  groaning,  and  God  remembered 

25  his  covenant  with  Abraham,  with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob.  And  God  looked  upon 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  God  had  respect  unto  them  [lit.  knew  tliem''}. 

«  Ver.  23.  Dn^rity  "cry  for  help  "—a  different  root  from  that  of  the  Terb  ip^'fl.— Tr.]. 

'  [Ver.  2S.  Lange  translates  :  Vnd  Grttt  mh  an  di-  Kinder  Tsrwh,  tmd  ids  der  Goliheit  war's  {km  bamml  (er  darchKhante 
tif.  und  ihre  Silualion).    "And  God  looked  on  the  cLilh,  ti  .  f  lt^^l.•l,  aud  it  was  known  by  Him  as  the  Godhead  (Ho  saw 

through  them  and  their  situation)."    This  tmn  '  -.^-gL-sted  by  the  emph.itic  repetition  of  QTI'^X.    But 

better  to  find  the  emphatic  word  in  y-\'\  "  Gc.  I  '  1 1  a  tend,  r  regard  for  them— a  frequent  use  of  J,'T 

Comp.  Ps.  cxiiv.  3.    Or,  simply,  " God  knew,"  bm  ,.  ^  i  i  ::iiitc,  as  ia  the  H.  brew.— Ta.] 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1.  And  there  went. — ^'^n,  according 
to  Keil,  serves  to  give  a  pictorial  description. 
Inasmuch  a?*  llie  woman  had  already  borne  Mi- 
riam and  Aaron,  it  would  misle.id  us  to  take  the 
word  in  this  sense.  The  expression  properly 
means  that  he  had  gone  ;  he  had,  in  these  dan- 
gerous times  which,  to  be  sure,  at  Aaron's  birth 
had  not  yet  reached  the  climax  (he  was  three 
years  older  than  Moses)  taken  the  slop  of  enter- 
ing the  married  state. — The  descent  of  these  p.i- 
rents  from  the  tribe  of  Levi  is  remarked.  Ener- 
getic boldness  had  distinguished  it  even  in  the 
ancestor  (Gen.  xlix.  5;  Ex.  xxxii.  26;  Deut. 
xxxiii.  8).  Although  originally  not  without  fa- 
nntioism,  this  boldness  yet  indicated  the  quali- 
ties needed  for  the  future  priesthood. 

Ver.  2.  She  recognized  it  as  a  good  omen,  that 
the  child  was  so  fair  (3'lU  darriof  LXX. ;  vid., 
Heb.  xi.  23),  Josephus  traces  this  intuition  of 
faith,  which  harmonized  with  the  maternal  feel- 
ing of  complacency  and  desire  to  preserve  bis 
life,  to  a  special  revelation.  But  this  was  here 
not  needed. 

Ver.  3.  The  means  of  preservation  chosen  by 
the  parents  is  especially  attributed  to  the  daugh- 
ter of  Levi.  It  is  all  the  more  daring,  since  in 
the  use  of  it  she  had,  or  seemed  to  have,  from  the 
outset,  the  daughter  of  the  child-murderer  in 
mind.  The  phrase  rt2r}  designates  the  box  as  a 
miniature  ark,  a  ship  of  deliverance.  On  the  pa- 
per-reed, vid.  AViNER,  Real-wurtcrbuch,  II.,  p.  411. 
The  box,  cemented  and  made  water-light  by 
means  of  asphalt  and  pitch,  was  made  fast  by  the 
same  reed  out  of  which  it  had  been  constructed.  I 
This  extraordinarily  useful  kind  of  reed  seems 
by  excessive  use  to  have  become  extirpated. 

Ver.  4.  And  his  sister.— Miriam  (xv.  2n). 
Tlio  sagacious  child,  certainly  older  than  Aaron, 
early  showed  that  she  was  qualified  to  become  a 
prophetess  (xv.  20)  of  such  distinction  that  she 
could  afterwards  be  puffed  up  by  it. 

Ver.  6.  "The  daughter  of  Pharaoh  is  called 
Oipiiov-Oic  (Josephus  et  al. )  or  Mf/j/Vf.  .  .  .  The 
bathing  of  the  king's  daughter  in  the  open  stream 
is  contrary  indeed  to  the  custom  of  the  modern 
Alohammedan  Orient,  where  tliis  is  done  only  by 
women  of  low  rank  in  retired  places  (Lane,  Man- 
ners aud  Customs,  p.  336,  6th  ed.),  but  accords  | 


with  the  customs  of  ancient  Egypt  (comp.  the 
copy  of  a  bathing-scene  of  a  noble  Egyptian  wo- 
man, with  four  female  attendants,  in  Wilkinson, 
Ancient  Egyptians,  Vol.  III.,  Plate  417),  and  be- 
sides is  perhaps  connected  with  the  notion  held 
by  the  ancient  Egyptians  concerning  the  sacred- 
nessofthe  Nile,  to  which  even  dirine  honors 
were  paid  (vid.  Hengste.vbero,  Egtipt  and  the 
Books  of  Moses,  p.  113),  and  with  the  fructifying, 
life-preserving  power  of  its  waters."  (Keil). 

Ver.  6.  The  compassion  of  Pharaoh's  daughter 
towards  the  beautiful  child  led  her  to  adopt  him; 
and  when  she  did  so,  making  him,  therefore, 
prospectively  an  Egyptian,  she  did  not  need,  we 
tu.iy  suppose,  to  educate  him  "  behind  the  king's 
back"  [as  Keil  thinks. — Tk.].  We  might  rather 
assume  that  this  event  more  or  less  neutralized 
the  cruel  edict  of  the  king. 

Ver.  9.  Nor  is  it  to  be  assumed  that  the  daugh- 
ter of  Pharaoh  had  no  suspicion  of  the  Hebrew 
nationality  of  the  mother.  How  often,  in  cases 
of  such  national  hostilities,  the  feelings  of  indi- 
vidual women  are  those  of  general  humanity  in 
contradistinction  to  those  of  the  great  mass  of 
fanatical  women. 

Ver.  10.  She  brought  him  unto  Pha- 
raoh's daughter. — Tlie  boy  in  the  meantime 
had  drunk  in  not  only  his  mothei-'s  milk,  but 
also  the  Hebrew  spirit,  and  had  been  intrusted 
with  the  secret  of  his  descent  and  deliverance. 
Legally  and  formally  he  became  her  son, 
whilst  he  inwardly  had  become  the  son  of  an- 
other mother;  and  though  she  gave  him  the 
Egyptian  name,  "  Mousheh,"  i.  e.,  saved  from  the 
water  (Josephus  II.,  9,  6),  yet  it  was  at  once 
changed  in  the  mind  of  Divine  Providence  into 
the  name  "  Mosheh  ;"  the  one  taken  out  became 
the  one  taking  out.  (Kurtz).  For  other  expla- 
nations of  the  name,  vid.  Gesenius  Knobel,  Keil. 
Thus  the  Egyptian  princess  herself  had  to  bring 
up  the  deliverer  and  avenger  of  Israel,  and,  by 
instructing  him  in  all  the  wisdom  of  Eaypt,  pre- 
pare him  both  negatively  and  positively  for  his 
vocation. 

Ver.  11.  When  Moses  was  grown. — Had 
become  a  man.  According  to  Acts  vii.  23,  and 
therefore  according  to  Jewish  tradition,  he  was 
then  forty  years  old.  He  had  remained  true  to  his 
destination  (Heb.  xi.  24),  but  had  also  learned, 
like  William  of  Orange,  the  Silent,  to  restr.in 
himself,   until   finally  a  special  occasion   caused 


the  flame  hidden  in  him  to  burst  forth.  An  Egyp- 
tian smote  one  of  his  brethren. — This  phrase 
suggests  the  ebullient  emotion  with  which  he 
now  decided  upon  his  future  career. 

Ver.  12.  That  Moses  looked  this  way  and  that 
way  before  committing  the  deed,  marks,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  mature  man  who  knew  how  to 
control  his  heated  feeling,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  man  not  yet  mature  in  faith  ;  since  by 
this  act,  which  was  neither  simple  murder  nor 
simple  self-defence,  and  which  was  not  sustained 
by  a  pure  peace  of  conscience,  he  anticipated 
Divine  Provideace.  It  cannot  be  attributed  to 
•'  a  carnal  thirst  for  achievement  "  [Kurtz]  ;  but 
as  little  can  it  be  called  a  pure  act  of  faith  ;  al- 
though the  illegal  deed,  in  which  he  was  even 
strengthened  by  the  consciousness  of  being  an 
Egyptian  prince  (as  David  in  his  sin  and  fall 
might  have  been  misled  by  feeling  himself  to  be 
an  oriental  despot)  was  a  display  of  his  faith,  in 
view  of  which  Stephen  (Acts  vii.)  could  justly 
rebuke  the  unbelief  of  the  Jews.  Vid.  more  in 
Keil,  p.  431. 

Ver.  14.  The  Jew  who  thug  spoke  was  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  unbelieving  spirit  of  which  Ste- 
phen speaks  in  Acts  vii. 

Ver.  15.  The  Midianites  had  made  a  settle- 
ment not  only  beyond  the  Elanitic  Gulf  near 
Moab,  but  also,  a  nomadic  branch  of  them,  on 
the  peninsula  of  Sinai.  These  seem  to  have  re- 
mained more  faithful  to  Shemitic  traditions  than 
the  trading  Midianites  on  the  other  side,  who 


joined  in  the  voluptuous  worship  of  Baal. 
"  Reuel "  means :  Friend  of  God.  He  does  not 
seem,  by  virtue  of  his  priesthood,  to  have  had 
princely  authority. 

Ver.  16.  By  the  well. — A  case  similar  to  that 
in  which  Jacob  helped  llachel  at  the  well,  Gen. 
xxix. 

Ver.  18.  On  the  relation  of  the  three  names, 
Reuel,  Jethro  (iii.  1)  and  Hobab  (Num.  x.  29) 
vid.  the  commentaries  and  Winer.  The  assump- 
tion that  jnh,  used  of  Hobab,  means  brother-in- 
law,  but  useJ  of  Jethro  ("preference,"  like 
Reuel's  name  of  dignity  "friend  of  God")  means 
father-in-law,  seems  to  be  the  most  plausible. 
Jethro  in  years  and  experience  is  above  Moses  ; 
but  Hobab  becomes  a  guide  of  the  Hebrew  cara- 
van through  the  wilderness,  and  his  descendants 
remain  among  the  Israelites.  Vid.  also  Judg. 
iv.  11  and  the  commentary  on  it. 

Ver.  22.  Gershom. — Always  a  sojourner.  So 
he  lived  at  the  court  of  Pharaoh,  so  with  the 
priest  in  Midian.  Zipporah  hardly  understood 
him  (vid.  iv.  24).  As  sojourner  he  passed  through 
the  wilderness,  and  stood  almost  among  his  own 
people.  Yet  the  view  of  Canaan  from  Nebo  be- 
came a  pledge  to  him  of  entrance  to  a  higher 
fatherland. 

Ver.  23.  Also  the  successor  of  the  child-mur- 
dering king  continued  the  oppression.  But  God 
heard  the  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel.  He  re- 
membered his  covenant,  and  looked  into  it,  and 
saw  through  the  case  as  God. 


C— THE  CALL  OF  MOSES.     HIS  REFUSAL  AND  OBEDIENCE.     HIS  ASSOCIATION  WITH 
AARON  AND  THEIR  FIRST  MISSION  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL. 

Chaptehs  III.,  IV. 

1  Now  Moses  kept  [was  pasturing]  tte  flock  of  Jetliro  his  fatlier-in-law,  the  priest 
of  Midian  ;  and  he  led  the  flock  to  the  back  side  of  [behind]  the  desert,  and  came 

2  to  the  mountain  of  God,  even  to  Horeb.  And  the  angel  of  Jehovah  appeared  unto 
him  in  a  flame  of  fire  out  of  the  midst  of  a  [the]  bush  ;  and  he  looked,  and  behold, 

3  the  bush  burned  with  fire,  and  the  bush  was  not  consumed.  And  Moses  said,  I 
will  now  turn  aside  [Let  me  turn  aside]  and  see  this  great  sight,  why  the  bush  is 

4  not  burnt.  And  when  Jehovah  saw  that  he  turned  aside  to  see,  God  called  unto 
him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush,  and  said,  Moses,  Moses  !     And  he  said,  Here  a»?i 

5  I.     And  he  said,  Draw  not  nigh  hither  ;  put  ofl'  thy  shoes  from  ofi"  [from]  thy  feet, 

6  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.  Moreover  [And]  he  said,  I 
am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 

7  Jacob.  And  Moses  hid  his  face,  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God.  And  Jeho- 
vah said,  I  have  surely  seen  the  afiliction  of  my  people  which  [who]  are  in  Egypt, 
and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of'  their  taskmasters  ;  for  I  know  their  sorrows; 

8  And  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians,  and  to 
bring  them  up  out  of  that  land  unto  a  good  laud,  and  a  large,  unto  a  land  flowing 


TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  fVer.  T.  'J30  may  bo  rendered  more  literally  "from  before,"  the  people  being  represented  us  followed  i 
work  by  the  ta^kmastcra.— Tb.]. 


CHAP.  III.  1— IV.  31. 


with  milk  and  lionev,  unto  the  place  of  the  Canaanites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the 

9  Amorites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebu.«ites.     Now   therefore 

behold,  the  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is  come  unto  me,  and  I  have  also  seen  the 

10  oppression  wherewith  the  Egyptians  oppress  them.  Come  now  therefore  and  I  will 
send  thee  unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  mayest  bring  forth  [and  bring  thou  forth]  my 

11  people,  the  children  of  Israel,  out  of  Egypt,  And  Moses  said  unto  God,  Who  am 
I,  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  that  I  should  bring  forth  the  children  of 

12  Israel  out  of  Egypt?  And  he  said.  Certainly  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  this  shall 
be  a  [the]  token  unto  thee  that  I  have  sent  thee :    When  thou  hast  brought  [briug- 

13  est]  forth  the  people  out  of  Egypt,  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain.  And 
Moses  said  unto  God,  Behold,  ivhen  I  come  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall 
say  unto  them,  The  God  of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you  ;  and  they  shall  say 

14  to  me.  What  is  his  name  ?  What  shall  I  say  unto  them  '?  And  God  said  unto 
IMoses,  I  AM  THAT  I  AM.  And  he  said.  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 

15  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you.  And  God  said  moreover  unto  JMoscs,  Thus  shalt  thou 
say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  your  fathers,  the  God 
of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me  unto  you  :  this 
is  my  name  forever,  and  this  is  my  memorial  unto  all  generations   [lit.   to  genera- 

16  tion  of  generation].  Go  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  together,  and  say  unto 
them,  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and 
of  Jacob  hath  appeared  unto  me,  saying,  I  have  surely  visited  [looked  upon]  you, 

17  and  seen  that  [and  that]  which  is  done  to  you  in  Egypt.  And  I  have  said,  I  will 
bring  you  up  out  of  the  affliction  of  Egypt,  unto  the  land  of  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
liittites,  and  the  Amorites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites, 

18  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  And  they  shall  [will]  hearken  to  thy 
voice;  and  thou  shalt  come,  thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  unto  the  king  of  Egypt, 
and  ye  shall  say  unto  him,  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  the  Hebrews,  hath  met"  with 
us,  and  now  let  us  go,  we  beseech  thee,  three  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness,  that 

19  we  may  sacritiee  to  Jehovah  our  God.  And  I  am  sure  [know]  that  the  king  of 

20  Egypt  will  not  let  you  go,  no  [even]  not'  by  a  mighty  hand.  And  I  will  stretch 
out  my  hand,  and  smite  Egypt  with  all  my  wonders  which  I  will  do  in  the  midst 

21  thereof;  and  after  that  he  will  let  you  go.  And  I  will  give  this  people  favor  in 
the  sight  of  the  Egyptians  ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that,  when  ye  go,  ye  shall  not 

22  go  empty.  But  [And]  every  woman  shall  borrow  [ask]  of  her  neighbor  and  of 
her  that  sojourneth  in  her  house  jewels  [articles]  of  silver  and  jewels  [articles]  of 
gold  and  raiment  [garments]  ;  and  ye  shall  put  them  upon  your  sons  and  upon  your 
daughters ;  and  ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians. 

Chap.  IV.  1  And  Moses  answered  and  said.  But,  behold,  they  will  not  believe  me, 
nor  hearken  unto  my  voice ;  for  they  will  say,  Jehovah  hath  not  appeared  unto 

2  thee.    And  Jehovah  said  unto  him.  What  m  that  [this]  in  thine  [thy]  hand  ?    And  he 

3  said,  A  rod.     And  he  said,  Cast  it  on  the  ground.     And  he  cast  it  on  the  ground, 

4  and  it  became  a  serpent ;  and  Closes  tied  fi-om  before  it.  And  Jehovah  said  unto 
Moses,  Put  forth  thy  hand,  and  take  it  by  the   tail.     And  he  put  forth  his  hand, 

5  and  caught  it,  and  it  became  a  rod  in  his  hand:  That  they  may  believe  that  Je- 
hovah, God  [the  God]  of  their  fathers,  the  Grod  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and 

6  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  appeared  unto  thee.  And  Jehovah  said  furthermore  unto 
him.  Put  now  thine  [thy]  hand  into  thy  bosom.     And  he  put  his  hand  into  his  bo- 

7  som  ;  and  when  he  took  it  out,  behold,  his  hand  ifos  leprous  as  snow.  And  he  said, 
Put  thine  [thy]  hand  into  thy  bosom  again.  And  he  put  his  hand  into  his  bosom 
again,  and  plucked  [took]  it  out  of  his  bosom,  and  behold,  it  was  turned  again  as 

»  [Ver.  18.  nipj  18  taken  by  RosenmilUer,  nftor  some  of  the  older  veraions,  as  =  NIpJi  vacatur  mper  not.  But,  aa 
Winer  remarks,  ita  tamm  intolerabilU  lauloloffia  inat  in  verbis  D''13j^n  Ti/X-"  The  LXX.  translate  irpo(r««KAi)Tai  ilfiaj, 
— wJiich  makes  better  eense,  but  is  grammatically  still  more  inadmissible,  as  HTpJ  is  thus  made  =  XTp-— Tr.]. 

3  [Ver.  19.  k"?!  is  rendered  by  the  LXX.,  Vulg.,  Luther,  and  others,  "  unless."'  But  this  is  incorrect.  The  more  obvi- 
ous translation  may  indeed  seem  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  statement  in  the  next  verse,  "  after  that  he  will  let  you  go." 
But  the  difflculty  is  not  surious.    Wo  need  only  to  supijly  in  thought  "at  first "  in  this  verse.— la.]. 


EXODUS. 


8  his  ortrr  flesh.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will  not  believe  thee,  neither 
[nor]  hearken  to  the  voice  of  tlie  first  sign,  that  they  will  believe  the  voice  of  the 

9  latter  sign.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  they  will  not  believe  also  [even]  these 
two  signs,  neither  [nor]  hearken  unto  thy  voice,  that  thou  shalt  take  of  the  water 
of  the  river,  and  pour  it  upon  the  dry  land;  and  the  water  which  thou  takest  out 

10  of  the  river  shall  become  blood  upon  the  dry  land.  And  Moses  said  unto  Jehovah, 
O  my  Lord,  [O  Lord],  I  am  not  eloquent  [lit.  a  man  of  words],  neither  heretofore, 
nor  since  thou  hast  s|ioken  unto  thy  servant ;  but  [for]  I  am  slow  of  speech  [mouth] 

11  and  of  a  slow  [slow  of]  tongue.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  him.  Who  hath  made 
man's  mouth?  or  who  maketh  the  [maketh]  dumb,  or  deaf,  or  the  seeing   [or  see- 

12  ing],  or  the  blind  ?  [or  blind  ?]  Have  [Do]  not  I,  Jehovah  ?     Now  therefore  go,  and 

13  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say.     And  he  said,  O  my 

14  Lord  [0  Lord],  send,  I  pray  thee,  by  the  hand  of  him  whom  thou  wilt  send.  And 
the  anger  of  Jehovah  was  kindled  against  Moses,  and  he  said,  Is  not  Aaron,  the  Le- 
vite,  thy  brother  ?  I  know  [Do  I  not  know  Aaron,  thy  brother,  the  Levite,]  that  he 
can  speak  well  ?*    And  also,  behold,  he  cometh  forth  to  meet  thee,  and  when  he  seeth 

15  thee,  he  will  be  glad  in  his  heart.  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  him,  and  put  words 
[the  words]  in  his  mouth;  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  with  his  mouth,  and 

16  will  teach  you  what  ye  shall  do.  And  he  shall  be  thy  spokesman  [shall  speak  for 
thee]  unto  the  people,  and  he  [it]  shall  be,  even  [ihaf]  he  shall  be  to  thee  instead  of 

17  [for]  a  mouth,  and  thou  shalt  be  to  him  instead  of  [for  a]  God.     And  thou  shalt 

18  take  this  rod  in  thine  [thy]  hand,  wherewith  thou  shalt  do  signs  [the  signs].  And 
Moses  went,  and  returned  to  Jethro  [Jether]  his  father-in-law,  and  said  unto  him. 
Let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,^  and  return  unto  my  brethren  which  [who]  are  in  Egypt, 
and  see  whether  they  be  [are]  yet  alive.     And  Jethro  said  to  Moses,  Go  in  peace. 

19  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Mo.ses  in  Midian,  Go,  return  into  Egypt ;  for  all  the  men 

20  are  dead  which  [who]  sought  thy  life.  And  Moses  took  his  wife,  and  his  sons,  and 
set  them  [made  them  ride]  upou  an  [the]  ass,  and  he  returned  to  the  land  of  Egypt. 

21  And  Moses  took  the  rod  of  God  in  his  hand.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  When 
thou  goest  to  return  into  Egypt,  see  that  thou  do  all  those  wonders  before  Pharaoh 
which  I  have  put  in  thy  hand  [consider  all  the  wonders  which  I  have  put  in  thy 
hand,  and  do  them  before  Pharaoh]  ;  but  I  will  harden  his  heart  that  he  shall  [and 

22  he  will]  not  let  the  people  go.     And  thou  shalt  say  unto  Pharaoh,  Tims  saith 

23  Jehovah,  Israel  is  my  son,  er«i  my  first-born.  And  I  say  [said]°  unto 
thee.  Let  my  son  go  that  he  may  serve  me ;  and  if  thou  refuse   [and  thou  didst 

24  refuse]*  to  let  him  go :  behold,  I  will  slay  thy  son,  even  thy  first-born.    And  it  came 

25  to  pass  by  the  way  in  the  inn,  that  Jehovah  met  him,  and  sought  to  kill  him.  Then 
[And]  Zipporah  took  a  sharp  stone,  and  cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her  son,  and  cast  it 
at  his  feet,  and    said.   Surely   a   bloody    husband    [a    bridegroom    of   blood] 

'  [Chap.  IV.  Ver.  14.  We  have  renturei)  to  follow  ths  VuIr.,  Lnther,  Cranmer,  the  Geneva  Version,  De  Wette,  Glaire, 
s.n<\  K.ilisrli.  in  fl.i^  rendering;  for,  tliougli  gramm;itic;il1y  tlie  ri-ac)ing  of  the  A.  V.  ii  more  nutural,  yei  it  is  difficult  to  sea 
tin-  f  .rei-  .if  IIih  qiirsiion,  "  Is  not  Aaron  tliy  brotfier?"  Far^r,  Arnheim,  and  Murphy,  try  to  avoid  the  difficulty  by  reu- 
d  r]',_  ■■  N  ill.  !  ■  II  -t  Aaron,  thy  brother,  the  Lovito?"  etc.  This,  however,  is  pnttin:^  in  what  is  not  in  the  original.  Buih, 
f    '  I;   -       I    in^hiies,  "Is  not  Aaron  thy  brother,  Ihe   Levitei:"  and  nnilerstands  the  question  to  imiiuate  that,  in 

r  ,      ,  ,   ,  :   \|       -' reluctance  to  obey  the  divine  commission,  the  jirit-sthooii,  wliich  otherwise  would  have  been  con- 

J  I  I  :i  i:  I,  ,  i:  I  -ivento  Aaron,  As  nothing  iasiiid  about  th'»  l»ri.-stlino(l, it  is  hard  to  see  how  the  phrase  "  the  Le- 
Tr  ,  if  ill  -  ,.11,  ,  1  li. I, '  ary  priesthood  bad  been  established,  could  have  been  understood  in  this  way.  Kiiobel,  tr,ins- 
laiiiiLT  in  til  '  MINI-  \\  ,iy,  unili-rst  luis  it  as  pointing  forward  to  the  duty  of  the  priests  to  give  public  instruction.  But  the 
s  ijii''  ii!,j,,i  tiiin  lii-s  auaiii-t  thi-,  ns  a,_'aiii,~t  the  previous  explanation  ;  Moses  was  a  Levite  as  much  as  Aarou  was.  Laiiire, 
tiaii-latiiig  ai-,i  111  >  s  UN,,  w-iiv,  uinierstii'ds  the  meaning  to  be;  Aaron  is  a  more  genuine  Levite  tlian  Moses.  But  in  this 
c,t-,.-  tii,'  il,  liiiiti-  a  It  II"!,'  is  iinite  out  ut'i.lace;  and  even  without  it  such  a  thought  would  be  very  obscurely  exp,esied.  Keil, 
following  B,uiiii_   ;  1,  '    '^    1-  ih  ,  significance  of  the  question  in  the  etymological  meaning  of  ^17,  fiz.,  to  join,  associate 


on'-'s-self  ti,,     1  '     I    .  the  advantage  cfsuggestin-r  a  reason  for  the  use  of  the  phra.<ie  "the  tcvit»."  which  on 

otli  r  tlimr    -  llnous.     But  the  definite  article  is  out  of  place  on  this  hypothesis  also.     Bi-id,s  as  the 

special  I* t  li   1      ~    ',  i;     ;  .   I'ili'y  to /rt?t,  the  notion  of  ti.s-,wci(i((on  is  not  just  the  one  needed  to  bo  suggested  by  the  term, 

to  say  uothiu;^  ui  tile  nuirtl.t.v  ot  tlio  mode  of  conveying  either  conception. — Tu.J. 

6  [Ver.  18.  NI'DdSx  is  not  to  bo  understood  as  a  request,  as  the  A.  V.  seems  to  imply,  especially  by  the  phrase,  "  I 
pray  thee,"  which  corresponds  to  SJ.    Wo  have  exactly  the  sameform  in  iJL  3,  where  Moses  said  JS]"n''pX,  "  I  will  turn 

aturally  to  be  rendered  as  preterites.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  [Nom 
can  br-  takiii  ns  jjiLitasis  to  the  foUowins:  clanse.  The  translation  of  the  A.  V.  and  of  others,  seems  to  have  been  prompted 
Ly  til'-,  i'la  tliat  Ibis  is  the  opening  message  to  Pharaoh.  But  the  threat  to  kill  the  first-born  was  in  reality  the  last  one 
made.  The  declaration,  ver.  21,  covers  all  the  first  part  of  the  efforts  of  Moses  to  secure  the  deliverance  of  the  people.  In 
sp'te  of  all  ttie  plagues  and  signs,  Pharaoh  *' will  not  let  the  people  go."  Thcrof  tre  (ve'.  22)  Moses  is  to  make  his  final  ap- 
pearauc ,  and  threaten  the  death  of  the  first-born  because  of  Pharaoh's  past  refusal  to  obey. — Tk.j, 


CHAP.  III.  1— r 


26  ari  tliou  to  me.   So  [And]  he  [i.  e.,  Jehovah]  let  him  go  [desisted  from  him]  ;  then  she 

27  said,  A  bloody  husband  [A  bridegroom  of  blood]  </w!tart,  because  of  the  circumcisiim. 
And  Jehovah  said  to  Aaron,  Go  into  [to]  the  wilderness  to  meet  Moses.    And  he  went, 

28  and  met  him  in  the  mount  of  God,  and  kissed  him.  And  Moses  told  Aaron  all 
the  words  of  Jehovah  who  had  sent  him  [with  which  he  had  charged  him]',  and  all 

29  the  signs  which  he  had  commanded  him.     And  Closes  and  Aaron  went,  and  gath- 

30  ered  together  all  the  elders  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  Aaron  spake  all  the 
words  which  Jehovah  had  spoken  unto  Mi  >-e-:,  ami  did  the  signs  in  the  sight  of  the 

31  people.  And  the  people  believed,  and  \\]v\i  ilnv  heard*  that  Jehovah  had  visited 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  that  he  had  looked  upon  their  af&iction,  then  they 
bowed  their  heads  [bowed  down],  and  worshipped. 

T  [Ver.  28.  tl/u'  may  take  a  double  accasative,  as  e.  ^.  in  2  Sam.  xi.  22 ;  1  Rings  xiT.  6.  Ae  Kalisch  observes,  "the 
neual  translation,  tc}io  had  s^.ut  him,  is  languid  in  the  extreme." — Tr.]. 

3  [Ver.  31.  Knobel,  following  the  rea.iini;  e,\ip>j,  of  the  LXX.,  would  change  ?J,'0C;'1  into  ^notyi-  There  seems  to 
be  strong  reason  for  the  change.  The  p- i>pl^.  acMnliti^  fo  the  present  text,  seem  to  believe,  before  hearing.  Moreover, 
we  have,  as  Knobel  points  out,  another  ahii'st  unmistakable  instance  of  the  same  error.  The  narrative  in  2  Kings  xx.  13 
is  identical  with  th.it  in  Isa.  xxxix.  2,  with  the  exception  that  the  first  passage  has  JTaC?'!  where  the  second  has  n02"V 
The  LXX  has  here,  too  ex^PI  *°  \)oih.  cases.  In  reference  to  2  Kings  xx.  13,  Keil  says  that  "^*"3ty'1  seems  to  bean  error 
of  tninscription  for  nO*^^l,"  though  he  says  of  Knobel's  conjecture  concerning  the  verse  before  us,  that  it  is  "  without 
ground."    If  we  adopt  the  amended  reading,  we  translate,  "  and  they  rejoiced  because  Jehovah  had  visited,"  etc, — Ta.]. 

ing  to  ver.  4,  it  is  JehoTah  Himself,  or  even  God 
Himself,  Elohim.* — The  Bush. — Representing 
the  poor  Israelites  in  tlieir  low  estate  in  contrast 
with  the  people  that  resemble  lofiy  trees,  Judg. 
ix.  1-5.  AcconJing  to  Kurtz,  the  flame  of  fire  is 
a  svmbof  of  the  holineFs  of  God  ;  according  to 
Keil,  who  observes  that  God's  holiness  is  denoted 
by  light  {e.  g.  Isa.  x.  17),  the  fire  is  rather,  in 
ils  capacity  of  burning  and  consuming,  a  sym- 
bol of  purifying  affliction  and  annihilating  pun- 
ishment, or  of  the  chastening  and  punitive  j'us- 
tice  of  God.  But  this  is  certainly  not  the  signi- 
fication of  the  sacrificial  fire  on  the  altar  of 
burnt-oflFcring,  the  "holy"  fire,  or  of  the  fiery 
chariot  of  Elijah,  or  of  the  tongues  of  fire  over 
tlie  heads  of  the  apostles  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. Fire,  as  an  emblem  of  the  divine  life,  of 
the  life  which  through  death  destroys  death,  of 
God's  jealous  love  and  authority,  has  two  oppo- 
site sides:  it  is  a  fire  of  the  jealous  love  which 
visits,  brings  home,  purifies,  and  rejuvenates,  as 
well  as  a  fire  of  consuming  wrath  ami  judgment. 
This  double  signification  of  fire  manifests  itself 
especially    also    in    the  northern    mythology. 


EXEGETICAI,   AXD   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1.  "Jethro's  residence  therefore  was 
separated  from  Horeb  by  a  wilderness,  and  is  to 
be  sought  not  north-east,  but  south-east  of  it. 
For  only  by  this  assumption  can  we  easily 
account  for  the  two-fold  fact  that  (1)  Moses,  in 
his  return  from  Midian  to  Egypt,  again  touches 
Horeb,  where  Aaron,  coming  from  Kgypt,  meets 
him  (iv.  27),  and  that  (2)  the  Israelites,  ia  their 
journey  through  the  wilderness,  nowhere  come 
upon  Midianites,  and  in  leaving  Sinai  the  ways 
of  Israel  and  of  the  Midianite  Hobab  separate" 
(Keil).  Horeb  here  is  used  in  the  wider  sense, 
embracing  the  whole  range,  including  Sinai,  so 
that  the  two  names  are  often  identical,  altliough 
Horeb,  strictly  so  called,  lay  further  north. — 
Mountain  of  God. — .Vccording  to  Knobel,  it 
was  a  sacred  place  even  before  the  call  of  Moses; 
according  to  Keil,  not  till  afterwards,  and  is 
here  named  according  to  its  later  importance. 
But  there  must  have  been  something  which  led 
the  shepherd  Moses  to  drive  his  floclc  so  far  as 
to  this  mountain,  and  afterwards  to  select  Sinai 
as  the  place  from  which  to  give  the  law.  The 
more  general  ground  for  the  special  regard  in 
which  this  ni.ijeslic  mountain-range  is  held  is 
without  doubt  tJie  reverence  fell  for  the  moun- 
tains of  God  in  general.  The  word  13"1'3n 
might  be  taken  as=pasture,  and  the  passage 
understood  to  mean  that  Moses,  in  profound 
meditation,  forgetting  himself  as  shepherd,  drove 
the  flock  far  out  beyond  the  ordinary  pasture- 
ground.  Yet  Rosenmiiller  observes:  "On  this 
highest  region  of  the  peninsula  are  to  be  found 
the  most  fruitful  valleys,  in  which  also  fruit 
trees  grow.  Water  in  abundance  is  found  in 
this  district,  and  therefore  it  is  the  refuge  of  all 
the  Bedouins,  when  the  lower  regions  are  dried 
up."  Tradition  fixes  upon  the  Monastery  of 
Sinai  as  the  place  of  the  thorn-bush  and  the 
calling  of  Moses. 

Ver.  2.  The  Angel  of  Jehovah. — Accord- 


•  [See  a  full  t 
Commentary  on 
fciiucd  that  this  Aiigi-1  ia  Cli 


on  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  in  the 

1.  38G  sqq.,  where  tin-  view  is  main- 

■If.     Thif  is  perhaps 


of  the  ang'-l  in  the  hush,  h.' 
the  angel  wa^  Cbribt,  btlt  cal 
Lord."  Moreover,  jnst  after 
as  Moses'  prophecy  of  Christ 
to  find  Christ  in  the  Mosaic  1 
identification  of  the  Angel  o: 
urged;  but  thev  aresuperflu 
unanswered.— Ta.] 


10 


That  light  has  the  priority  over  fire,  Keil  justly 
observes.  While  then  the  fire  here  may  sym- 
bolize the  Egyptian  afiiiction  in  which  Israel  is 
burning,  yet  the  presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  fire 
signifies  not  something  contrasted  with  it,  mean- 
ing that  he  controls  the  fire,  so  that  it  purifies, 
without  consuming,  the  Israelites;  but  rather 
the  fire  represents  Jehovah  himself  in  His 
government,  and  so  the  oppression  of  the  Egypt- 
ians is  lifted  up  into  the"  light  of  the  divine 
government.  This  holds  also  prophetically  of 
all  the  future  afiiictions  of  the  theocracy  and  of 
the  Christian  Church  itself.  The  Church  of  God 
is  to  appear  at  the  end  of  the  world  as  the  last 
burning  thorn-bush  which  yet  is  not  consumed. 
"  The  Njp.  hit  is  nSpX  lys  (Deut.  iv.  24)  iu  the 
midst  of'^Israel  (Deul.vi.  1.5)."  Keil. 

Vers.  3-5.  Turn  aside.— Conip.  Gen.  xix.  2. 
— Moses,  Moses.— Coinp.  Gen.  xxii.  11.  An 
expression  of  the  most  earnest  warning  and  of 
the  deepest  sense  of  the  sacredness  and  danger 
of  the  moment.  The  address  involves  a  two-fold 
element.  First,  Moses  must  not  approach  any 
nearer  to  Jehov.ah ;  and,  secondly,  he  musi 
regard  the  place  itself  on  which  he  is  standing 
as'holy  ground,  on  which  he  must  not  stand  in 
his  dusty  shoes.  The  putting  oif  of  the  shoes  must 
in  general  have  the  same  character  as  the  wash- 
ing of  the  feet,  and  is  therefore  not  only  a  gene- 
ral expression  of  reverence  for  the  sacred  place 
and  for  the  presence  of  God,  like  the  taliing  off 
of  the  hat  with  us,  but  also  a  reminder  of  the 
moral  dust  which  through  one's  walk  in  life 
clings  to  the  shoes  or  feet,  i.  e.  of  the  venial  sins 
on  account  of  which  one  must  humble  himself 
in  the  sacred  moment.  On  the  custom  of  taking 
off  the  shoes  in  the  East  upon  entering  pagodas, 
mosques,  etc.,  see  Keil,  p.  439. 

Ver.  6.  Of  thy  father.— The  singular  doubt- 
less comprehends  the  three  patriarchs  as  first 
■existing  in  Abraham.*  Moses,  in  his  religion 
of  the  second  revelation,  evei-ywhere  refers  to 
the  first  revelation,  which  begins  with  Abraham ; 
and  thus  the  name  of  Jehovah  first  acquires  its 
new  specific  meaning.  The  revelation  of  the 
law  presupposes  the  revelation  of  promise 
(Rom.  iv. ;  Gal.  iii.).— And  Moses  covered 
his  face. — In  addition  to  the  two  commands: 
draw  not  nigh,  put  off  thy  shoes,  comes  this  act, 
as  a  voluntary  expression  of  the  heart.  Vid.  1 
Kings  xix.  13.  "  Sinful  man  cannot  endure  the 
sight  of  the  holy  God"  (Keil).  Also  the  eye  of 
sense  is  overcome  by  the  splendor  of  the  mani- 
festation which  is  inwardly  seen,  somewhat  as 
by  the  splendor  of  the  sun.  Vid.  Rev.  i. 

Ver.  8.  lam  come  down. — Comp.  Gen.  xi. 
5.  A  good  hind,  i.  e.  a  fruitful.  A  large  land, 
i.  e.  not  hemmed  in  like  the  Nile  Valley.  Flow- 
ing, i.  e.  overflowing  with  milk  and  honey;  rich, 
therefore,  in  flowers  and  flowery  pastures.  On 
the  fruitfulnoss  of  Canaan,  comp.  the  geographi- 
cal works.— Into  the  place.-— More  particular 
description    of    the   laud.        Vid.    Gen.    x.    I'J ; 

Ver.  11.  And  Moses  said  unto  God.— lie 
who  once  would,  when  as  yet  he  ought  not,  now 
will  no  longer,  when  he  ouglit.     Both  faults,  the 


rashness  and  the  subsequent  slowness,  corres- 
pond to  each  other.  Moses  has  indeed  "  learned 
tiumllity  iu  the  school  of  Midian"  [Keil];  but 
this  humility  cannot  be  conceived  a.)  without  a 
mixture  of  dejection,  since  humility  of  itself 
does  not  stand  iu  the  way  of  a  bold  faith,  but  ia 
rather  the  source  of  it.  After  being  forty  years 
an  unknown  shepherd,  he  has,  as  he  thinks, 
given  up,  with  his  rancor,  also  his  hope.  More- 
over, he  feels,  no  doubt,  otherwise  than  formerly 
about  the  momentous  deed  which  seems  to  have 
done  his  people  no  good,  and  himself  only  mis- 
chief, and  which  in  Egypt  is  probably  not  for- 
gotten. As  in  the  Egyptian  bondage,  the  old 
guilt  of  Joseph's  brethren  manifested  itself  evea 
up  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  so  a  sha- 
dow of  that  former  rashness  seems  to  manifest 
itself  iu  the  embarrassment  of  his  spirit. 

Ver.  12.  The  promise  that  God  will  go  with 
him  and  give  success  to  his  mission  is  to  be 
sealed  by  his  delivering  the  Israelites,  bringing 
them  to  Sinai,  and  there  engaging  with  them  iu 
divine  service,  i.  e.,  as  the  expression  in  its  full- 
ness probably  means,  entering  formally  into  the 
relation  of  worshipper  of  Jehovah.  The  central 
point  of  this  worship  consisted,  it  is  true,  after- 
wards in  the  sacrificial  offerings,  particularly 
the  burnt  offering,  which  sealed  the  covenant. 
This  first  and  greatest  sign  involves  all  that  fol- 
low, and  is  designed  for  Moses  himself;  with  it 
God  gives  his  pledge  of  the  successful  issue  of 
the  whole.  It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  this 
great  promise  stands  in  close  relation  to  the 
great  hope  which  is  reviving  in  his  soul. 

Ver.  1-1  It  is  very  significant,  that  Moses, 
first  of  all,  desires,  in  behalf  of  his  mission,  and, 
we  may  say,  in  behalf  of  his  whole  future  reli- 
gious system,  to  know  definitely  the  name  of 
God.  The  name,  God,  even  in  the  form  of  El 
Shaddai,  was  too  general  for  the  new  relation 
into  which  the  Israelites  were  to  enter,  as  a 
people  alongside  of  the  other  nations  which  all 
had  their  own  deities.  Though  he  was  the  only 
God,  yet  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  have  a 
name  of  specific  significance  for  Israel ;  and 
though  the  name  Jehovah  was  already  known 
hy  them,  still  it  had  not  yet  its  unique  signifi- 
cance, as  the  paternal  name  of  God  first  ac- 
quired its  meaning  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
the  word  "justification,"  at  the  Reformation. 
Moses,  therefore,  implies  that  he  can  liberate 
the  people  only  in  the  name  of  God;  that  he 
must  bring  to  them  the  religion  of  their  fathers 
in  a  new  phase.  OV  expresses  not  solely  "the 
objective  manifestation  of  the  divine  essence" 
[Keil],  but  rather  the  human  apprehension  of 
it.  The  objective  manifestation  cannot  in  itself 
be  desecrated,  as  the  name  of  God  can  be. 

Ver.  14.  Can  it  be  that  JTHS  ICX  HTIX 
means  only  "I  am  He  who  I  am?"  that  it  de- 
signates only  the  absoluteness  of  God,  or  God 
as  the  Eternal  One?  We  suppose  that  the  two 
rrnx's  do  not  denote  an  identical  form  of  exist- 
ence, but  the  same  existence  in  two  different 
future  times.  From  future  to  future  I  will  be 
tlie  same — the  same  in  visiting  and  delivering 
the  people  of  God,  the  faithful  covenant-God, 
and,  as  such,  radically  different  from  the  con- 
stant variation  iu  the  representations  of  God 


CHAP.  III.  1— IV.  31. 


11 


among  the  heathen.  This  his  consc; 
the  immediate  form  of  his  name ;  transposed  to 
the  third  person,  it  is  Jehovah.  Hence  also  the 
expression  :  "  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,"  is  equivalent  in 
meaning.  When  the  repetition  of  this  name  in 
ch.  vi.  is  taken  for  another  account  of  the  same 
fact,  it  is  overlooked  that  in  that  case  the  point 
was  to  get  an  assurance  that  the  name  "Jeho- 
vah" would  surpass  that  of  "Almighty  God" — 
an  assurance  of  which  Moses,  momentarily  dis- 
couraged, was  just  then  in  need.* 

Ver.  15.  My  name  forever. — Forward  into 
all  the  future,  and  backward  into  all  the  past 
O.?.]). 

Vers.  16-18.  Moses  is  to  execute  his  commis- 
sion to  Pharaoh  not  only  in  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
but  also  in  connection  with  the  elders  of  Israel, 
in  tlie  name  of  the  people.  The  expression 
"elders"  denotes,  it  is  true,  primarily  the 
heads  of  tribes  and  families,  but  also  a  simple, 
patriarchal,  legal  organizaiion  based  upon  that 
system. — Now  let  us  go  three  days'  journey. 
The  phrase  X3"nD7P  is  diplomatically  exactly 
suited  to  the  situation.  Strictly,  they  have  a 
perfect  right  to  go ;  but  it  is  conditioned  on 
Pharaoh's  consent.  Knobel  says:  "The  dele- 
gates, therefore,  were  to  practice  deception  on 
the  king."     This  ia  a  rather  clumsy  judgment 


*  [Comp.  Introriuclion 
bald  a  tcim  as  "He  is  "or 

tion  of  nin 

■\V(>   .l.HiM,   ! 


to  Goncsis,  p.  Ill  eqq.  From  go 
L-  is"  or  "He  will  be"  (the  e.\act  traiialii- 
rather  of  nin')»  ouo  can  hardly  be  ex- 
1.-  !.r.-(  i>)p  notion  intended  to  be  conveyed. 
!,  uIp  ilier,  if  we  are  to  confine  the  con- 
I     ■  wbich  are  supKested  bytbo  fien- 


sbould 


p.  S6i 


nialied 


are  wrong  who  tramUUe  miT'  uniformly  "tiio  Etc: 

The  word  has  bfcome  strictly  a  proper  name.    W*e  mij 

well  (and  even  with  more  correctness)  always  read 

6upplanter"  instt-a- 

"  Rachel." — There  ( 

Iloflliann  {Hchriflht 

the  true  explanation.    The  c 

which  there  is  the  same  seemingly  i 

verb  aa  in  our  verse  ought  to  serve 

Ex.  xxxiii.  19 :  "  I  will  bo  gracious 

cious,  and  will  show  mercy  on  who 

It  is  true  that  Lange  attempts  to  i 

in  accordance  wit!i  \m  iiitrr]ir.'t;i 

before  us;  but  ho  ^^t  ...i^  i.. ..it;. 

dentty  express.  ^ 


Ezek. 

the  emphatic  siii^;..  ,.i,„ 
•{W*";  or  rather,  sum-  I 
existence  in  the  abstract, 
between  subject  and  pr<. 
one,  and  signities  tlmt  Gi>< 

possession  and  ii , 

ence,  eternity  .-iirl  ,  i  . 
affirmed.    Pen  „  j 


of  the  psychological  process.  If  Pharaoh  granted 
the  request,  he  would  be  seen  to  be  in  a  benevo- 
lent mood,  and  they  might  gradually  ask  for 
more.  If  he  denied  it,  it  would  be  well  for  them, 
not  at  once,  by  an  open  proposal  of  emancipa- 
tion, to  have  exposed  themselves  to  ruin,  and 
introduced  the  contest  with  his  hardness  of 
heart,  which  the  guiding  thought  of  Jehovah 
already  foresaw.  Moses  knew  better  how  to 
deal  with  a  despot.  Accordingly  he  soon  in- 
creases his  demand,  till  he  demands  emancipa- 
tion, vi.  10;  vii.  16;  viii.  25;  ix.  1,  13;  x.  3. 
From  the  outset  it  must,  moreover,  have  greatly 
inaijressed  the  king,  that  the  people  should  wish 
to  go  out  to  engag-!  iu  an  act  of  divine  service; 
still  more,  that  they  sliould,  in  making  their 
offering,  desire  to  avoid  ofiending  the  Egyptians, 
viii.  26.  But  gradually  Jehovah,  as  the  legiti- 
mate king  of  the  people  of  Israel,  comes  out  ia 
opposition  to  the  usurper  of  His  rights,  ix.  1  tq. 
Moses,  to  be  sure,  even  during  the  hardening 
process,  does  not  let  his  whole  purpose  distinctly 
appear;  but  he  nevertheless  gives  intimations 
of  it,  when,  after  Pharaoh  concedes  to  them  the 
privilege  of  making  an  offering  in  the  country, 
he  stipulates  for  a  three  days'  journey,  and,  iu 
an  obscure  additional  remark,  hints  that  he 
then  will  still  wait  for  Jehovah  to  give  further 
directions. 

Ver.  19.  Even  not  by  a  mighty  hand.— 
Although  God  really  frees  Israel  by  a  mighty 
hand.  Pharaoh  does  not,  even  after  the  ten 
plagues,  permanently  submit  to  Jehovah;  there- 
fore he  perishes  in  the  Red  Sea. 

Ver.  20.  Announcement  of  the  miracles  by 
which  Jehovah  will  glorify  Himself. 

Ver.  21.  Announcement  of  the  terror  of  the 
Egyptians,  in  which  they  will  give  to  the  Israel- 
ites, upon  a  modest  request  for  a  loan,  the  most 
<i.-ily  vessels  (Keil:  "jewels").  Theannounce- 
:.  lii  becomes  a  command  in  xi.  2  sq.  On  the 
ii)i<  i,  lit  misunderstanding  of  this  fact,  vid.  Keil, 
p.  iib  eq.,  and  the  references  to  Hengstenberg, 
Kurtz,  Keinke  ;  also  Commentary  on  Genesis,  p. 
29.  "  Egypt  had  robbed  Israel  by  the  unwar- 
ranted and  unjust  exactions  imposed  upon  him  ; 
now  Israel  carries  off  the  prey  of  Egypt.  A  pre- 
lude of  the  victory  which  the  people  of  God  will 
always  gain  in  the  contest  with  the  powers  of  the 
world.  Comp.  Zech.  xiv.  14"  (Keil).* 

Chap.  iv.  1.  Four  hundred  years  of  natural 
development  had  succeeded  the  era  of  patriarchal 


being  a  verbal  form   inci 


t  pronominal  element,  an  expression  of  personalit\  : 
-Hr  is.  Jehovah  is  the  Hmng  God,  the  Oui  wii.. 
I  Himself  to  His  people,  and  holds  a  personal  relatiou  I 
Q.-Ta.]  1 


i  bestowed  on  the  Israelites. — Xr.J. 


12 


revelations,  and  the  people  were  no  longer  ac- 
customed to  prophetic  voices.  The  more  ground 
therefore  did  Moses  seem  to  have  for  his  anxiety 
lest  the  people  would  not  believe  him.  Jehovah, 
moreover,  does  not  blame  him  for  his  doubts,  but 
gives  him  three  marljs  of  authentication.  The 
Bymbolical  nature  of  these  miraculous  signs  is 
noticed  also  by  Keil. 

Vers.  2-5.  The  casting  down  of  the  shepherd's 
rod  may  signify  the  giving  up  of  his  previous 
pastoral  occupation.  As  a  seemingly  impotent 
shepherd's  rod  he  becomes  a  serpeut,  he  excites 
all  the  hostile  craft  and  power  of  the  Egyptians. 
Pharaoh  especially  appears  in  the  whole  process 
also  as  a  serpent-lilse  liar.  But  as  to  the  ser- 
pent, it  is  enough  to  understand  by  it  the  darl;, 
hostile  power  of  the  Egyptians  which  now  at  first 
frightened  him.  It  is  true,  the  enemy  of  the 
woman's  seed,  the  old  serpent,  constitutes  the 
background  of  the  Egyptian  hostility  ;  but  here 
the  symbol  of  the  Egyptian  snalie  kind  is  suffi- 
cient. When  Moses,  however,  seizes  the  serpent 
by  the  tail,  by  its  weaponless  natur.al  part,  as  is 
illustrated  in  the  Egyptian  plagues,  it  becomes  a 
rod  again,  and  now  a  divine  rod  of  the  shepherd 
of  the  people. 

Vers.  6-8.  The  white  leprosy  is  here  meant. 
Comp.  Lev.  xiii.  3.  "  As  to  the  significance  of 
this  sign,  it  is  quite  arbitrary,  with  Theodoret 
and  others,  down  to  Kurtz,  to  understand  the 
hand  to  represent  the  people  of  Israel ;  and  still 
more  arbitrary,  with  Kurtz,  to  make  the  bosom 
represent  first  Egypt,  and  then  Canaan,  as  the 
hiding-place  of  Israel.  If  the  shepherd's  rod 
Fymbolizes  Moses'  vocation,  it  is  the  hand  which 
bears  the  rod,  and  governs.  In  his  bosom  the 
attendant  carries  the  babe,"  etc.  (Keil).  The 
leprosy  has  been  explained,  now  as  signifying 
the  miserable  condition  of  the  Jews,  now  as  the 
contagious  influence  upon  them  of  Egyptian  im- 
purity. Through  the  sympathy  of  his  bosom 
with  the  leprosy  of  his  people  Moses'  hand  itself 
becomes  in  his  bosom  leprous  ;  but  through  the 
same  sympathy  his  hand  becomes  clean  again. 
The  actions  of  his  sympathy  cause  him  to  ap- 
pear as  an  accomplice  in  the  guilt  of  Israel;  and 
he  really  is  not  free  from  guilt ;  but  the  same 
actions  have  a  sort  of  propitiatory  power,  which 
also  inures  to  the  benefit  of  the  people.  Jeho- 
hovah  raises  the  voice  of  this  second,  sacerdotal 
sign  above  the  voice  of  the  first. 

Ver.  9.  As  the  first  miraculous  sign  symbo- 
lized a  predominantly  prophetic  action,  the  se- 
cond a  sacerdotal,  so  the  third  a  kingly  kind.  It 
gives  him  the  power  to  turn  into  blood  the  water 
of  the  Nile,  which  is  for  Egypt  a  source  of  life, 
a  sort  of  deity  ;  i.  e.,  out  of  the  very  life-force 
to  evoke  the  doom  of  death.  Let  us  not  forget 
that  a  whole  succession  of  Egyptian  plagues  pro- 
ceeds from  the  first  one,  the  corruption  of  the 
Kile  water. 

As  these  miraculous  signs  are  throughout  sym- 
bolical. BO,  in  their  first  application,  they  are 
probably  conditioned  hy  a  state  of  ecstasy.  Yet  the 
first  miracle  is  also  literally  performed  before 
Pharaoh,  and  in  its  natural  basis  is  allied  with 
the  Egyptian  serpent  charming.  Vid.  Hengst. 
[Efnipt  and  ike  Books  of  Moses,  p.  100  sqq.]. 

i'iie  third  sign,  however,  is  expanded  in  the 
result  into  the  transformation  of  the  water  of  the 


Nile  into  blood.  This,  too,  has  its  connection 
with  Egypt ;  therefore  there  must  doubtless  have 
been  some  mysterious  fact  involved  in  the  second 
sign,  inasmuch  moreover  as  the  text  reports  that 
Moses  did  the  signs  before  the  people,  and  thus 
authenticated  his  mission  before  them  (iv.  30, 
31),  although  indeed  in  iv.  17  the  signs  seem  to 


be  reduced  I 


i  done  with  the  staff. 


Vers.  10-12.  There  were  wanted  no  more 
signs,  but,  as  Moses'  modesty  led  him  to  feel, 
more  oratorical  ability.  How  could  Moses  have 
exercised  his  slow  tongue  in  his  long  isolation  in 
the  desert,  associating  with  few  men,  and  those 
who  could  but  little  understand  him?  This  dif- 
ficulty Jehovah  also  regards.  He  will  impart  to 
him  the  divine  eloquence,  which  from  that  time 
through  the  history  of  the  whole  kingdom  of  God 
remains  different  from  that  of  the  natural  man. 
He  ordained  for  him  his  peculiar  organs,  and 
the  organic  defect  of  a  heavy  tongue,  as  all  or- 
gans and  organic  defects  in  general,  and  will 
know  how  to  make  of  his  tongue  his  divine  or- 
gan, as  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  has  so 
richly  proved. 

Vers.  13,  14.  It  cannot  be  said  (with  Keil) 
that  now  the  secret  depth  of  his  heart  becomes 
open,  in  the  sense  that  he  will  not  undertake  the 
mission.  If  this  were  the  case,  Jehovah  would 
no  longer  deal  with  him.  But  the  last  sigh  of 
his  ill-humor,  of  his  despondency,  finds  vent  ia 
these  words,  which  are  indeed  sinful  enough  to 
excite  the  anger  of  Jehovah,  and  so  also  to  make 
him  feel  as  if  death  were  about  to  overtake  him. 
We  are  reminded  here  of  similar  utterances  of 
Isaiah  (ch.  vi.),  of  Jeremiah,  (ch.  i.),  of  the  de- 
tenlion  of  Calvin  in  Geneva  by  the  adjurations 
of  Farel,  and  similar  scenes.  The  anger  of  Je- 
hovah is  not  of  a  sort  which  leads  him  to  break 
with  Moses:  and  in  the  farther  expression  of  it 
it  appears  that  the  hesitation  on  account  of  the 
slow  tongue  is  still  not  yet  overcome. — Is  not 
Aaron  thy  brother  ?— "  The  Levite  "  means 
probably  a  genuine  Levite,  a  model  of  a  Levite, 
more  than  Moses.*  With  the  cautious  genius  a 
more  lively  talent  was  to  be  associated.  Also  he 
seems,  in  reference  to  the  affairs  of  the  Israel- 
ites, to  be  more  prompt  than  Moses;  for  he  is 
already  on  the  way  to  look  for  Moses  (doubtlesa 
in  consequence  of  divine  instigation).  Vid.  ver. 
27,  where  the  sense  is  pluperfect.  Moses,  then, 
has  tivo  things  to  encourage  him:  he  is  to  have 
a  spokesman,  and  the  spokesman  is  already 
coming  in  the  form  of  his  own  brothei-.  For  a 
similar  mysterious  connection  of  spirits,  vid. 
Acts  X. 

Vers.  15,  16.  The  fixing  of  the  relation  be- 
tween Moses  and  God,  and  between  Moses  and 
Aaron,  must  have  entirely  quieted  the  doubter. 
The  relation  between  Moses  and  Aaron  is  to  be 
analogous  to  that  between  God  and  his  prophet. 
This  assignment  does  not  favor  the  notion  of  a 
literal  verbal  inspiration,  but  all  the  more  de- 
cidedly that  of  a  real  one.  It  accords  with  the 
spirit  of  Judaistio  caution,  when  the  Targums 
tone   down    D'rl'7sS    into    21>h    "for   a  master 


=  rOn  tliis  point  comp.  uudci 

tB.l. 

r  f  i'he  A.  V.  also  softens  the 


I  and  Gramuiatical.' 
1  by  usiug  the  phrast 


CHAP.  III.  1— IV.  31. 


13 


Ver.  17.  And  this  staff.— Out  of  the  rustic 
shepherd's  staflf  was  to  be  made  a  divine  shep- 
herd's staff,  the  symbolic  organ  of  the  divine 
signs.  This  ordinance,  too,  must  have  elevated 
his  soul.  Here  there  was  to  be  no  occasion  to 
say,  "  0  gentle  staff,  would  I  had  ne'er  exchanged 
thee  for  the  sword!" 

Ver.  18.  This  request  for  a  leave  of  absence  is 
truthful,  but  does  not  express  the  whole  truth. 
This  Jethro  could  not  have  borne.  His  brethren 
are  the  Israelites,  and  his  investigating  whether 
they  are  yet  alive  has  a  higher  significance. 

Ver.  19.  All  the  men  are  dead.— This  dis- 
closure is  introduced  with  eminent  fitness. 
Among  the  motives  which  made  Moses  willing  to 
undertake  the  mission,  this  assurance  should  not 
be  one.  He  had  first  to  form  his  resolution  at 
the  risk  of  finding  them  still  living.  Moreover, 
he  has  on  account  of  these  men  at  least  expressed 
no  hesitation. 

Vers.  20-26.  What  is  here  related  belongs  to 
Moses'  journey  from  Jethro's  residence  to  the 
Mount  Horeb,  i.  e.,  from  the  south-eastern  part 
of  the  desert. 

Ver.  20.  His  sons. — Only  the  one,  Gershom, 
has  been  named,  and  that  because  his  name 
served  to  express  Moses'  feeling  of  expatriation 
in  Midian.  The  other,  Eliezer,  is  named  after- 
wards (xviii.  3,  4).  But  his  name  is  introduced 
here  by  the  Vulgate  (according  to  some  MSS., 
by  the  LXX.),  and  by  Luther.  Moses  went  on  j 
foot  by  the  side  of  those  riding  on  asses,  but 
bears  the  staff  of  God  in  his  hand.  "  Poor  as 
his  outward  appearance  is,  yet  he  has  in  his  hand 
the  staff  before  which  Pharaoh's  pride  and  all  his 
power  must  bow  "  [Keil]. 

Ver.  21.  On  the  way  from  Midian  to  Horeb, 
towards  Egypt,  Jehovah  repeats  and  expands  the 
first  commission,  as  it  was  in  accordance  with 
Jloses'  disposition  to  become  absorbed  in  medi- 
tations on  his  vocation.  All  the  wonders. — 
D'HSSri" 73.  The  repara,  or  the  terrible  signs 
■which  are  comtnitted  to  him  constitute  a  whole ; 
and  accordingly  he  is  to  unfold  the  whole  series 
in  order  (on  miracles  vid.  theComm.  on  Matt.,  p. 
153).  And  why  ?  Because  this  is  made  neces- 
sary in  order  to  meet  the  successive  displays  of 
obduracy  with  which  Pharaoh  is  to  resist  these 
terrific  signs.  But,  that  he  may  not  on  this  ac- 
count become  discouraged  in  his  work,  he  is  told 
thus  early  that  God  himself  will  harden  the 
heart  of  Pharaoh  with  his  judgments,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  about  the  final  glorious  issue 
(  Vid.  the  Comm.  on  Rom.,  oh.  ix.).  The  three 
terms  expressive  of  hardening,  ptn,  to  make  firm 
(ver.  21),  n«yp,  to  make  hard  (vii.  3),  and  133, 
to  make  heavy  or  blunt  (x.  1),  denote  a  gradual 
progress.  The  first  term  occurs,  it  is  true,  as 
the  designation  of  the  fundamental  notion,  when 
the  hardening  has  an  entirely  new  beginning, 
and  a  new  scope  (xiv.  4;  xiv.  17).     It  is  rightly 


the   lie 


brought  forward  as  a  significant  circumstance  by 
Hengstenberg,  Keil,  and  others,  that  the  harden- 
ing of  Pharaoh's  heart  is  ten  times  ascribed  to 
God,  and  ten  times  to  himself  Pharaoh's  self- 
determination  has  the  priority  throughout.  The 
hardening  influence  of  God  presupposes  the  self- 
obJuration  of  the  sinner.  But  God  hardens  him 
who  thus  hardens  himself,  by  furthering  the  pro- 
cess of  self-obduration  through  the  same  influ- 
ences which  would  awaken  a  pious  spirit.  This 
he  does  as  an  act  not  merely  of  permission,  but 
of  judicial  sovereignty.      Vid.  Keil,  p.  453  sqq. 

Ver.  23.  Israel  is  my  son,  my  first-born. 
Comp.  Dent.  xiv.  1,  2;  Hos.  xi.  1.  The  doctrine 
of  the  Son  of  God  here  first  appears  in  its  typi- 
cal germinal  form.  Keil  makes  the  choosing  of 
Israel  begin  with  Abraham,  and  excludes  from  it 
the  fact  of  creation,*  as  well  as  the  spiritual 
generation,  so  that  there  remains  only  an  elec- 
tion of  unconditional  adoption  and  of  subsequent 
education,  or  ethical  creation.  But  the  applica- 
tion of  these  abstractions  to  the  Chi-istology  of 
the  N.  T.  would  perhaps  be  difficult.  Vid.  Com. 
on  Rom.  viii.  The  expression,  first-born  son,  sug- 
gests the  future  adoption  of  other  nations.  I 
will  slay  thy  son.— This  threat  looks  forward 
to  the  close  of  the  Egyptian  plagues. 

Ver.  24.  Seemingly  sudden  turn  of  affairs. 
Yet  it  is  occasioned  by  a  previous  moral  incon- 
sistency, which  now  for  the  first  time  is  brought 
close  to  the  prophet's  conscience.  He  who  is  on 
his  way  to  liberate  the  people  of  the  circumci- 
sion, has  in  Midian  even  neglected  to  circumcise 
his  second  son  Eliezer.  The  wrath  of  God  comes 
upon  him  in  an  attack  of  mortal  weakness,  in  a 
distressing  deathly  feeling  (Ps.  xc).  Probably 
Zipporah  had  opposed  the  circumcision  of  Eli- 
ezer; hence  she  now  interposes  to  save  her  hus- 
band. She  circumcises  the  child  with  a  stone- 
knife  (more  sacred  than  a  metallic  knife,  on 
account  of  tradition);  but  she  is  still  unable  to 
conceal  her  ill-humor,  and  lays  the  foreskin  at 
his  feet  with  the  words:  "A  bridegroom  of  blood 
art  thou  to  me."f 

Ver.  26.  Zipporah  seems  to  be  surly  about 
the  whole  train  of  circumcisions.  Probably 
Moses  is  thereby  led  to  send  her  with  the  chil- 
dren back  to  her  father  to  remain  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  undertaking.  For  not  until  his 
return  to  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  does  his  father- 
in-law  bring  his  family  to  him. 

Ver.  27.  On  the  one  hand,  Moses  is  freed  from 
a  hindrance,  which  is  only  obscurely  hinted  at, 
by  the  return  of  Zipporah  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a 
great  comfort  awaits  him  in  the  coming  of  hia 
brother  Aaron  to  meet  him. 

*|Lan--'s  1:.i,L-u;iK-  is:    •' K,,l   ;;,<,/  ,;;.■    ErH-ii!,hi„:,  lyrneUt 


typojiraphical 
tfTh.   '     ■ 


and  the  commentary  bo'h  leave  it  noraewh:i 


Ver.  29.  They  went. — This  is  the  journey 
from  Horeb  to  Egypt. 

Vers.  30,  31.  The  elders  of  the  people,  after 
hearing  Aaron's  message,  and  seeing  his  signs, 


believingly  accept  the  fact  of  Jehovah's  comiris- 
sion,  and  bow  adoringly  before  His  messengers. 
Thereby  the  people  organized  themselves.  They 
accepted  the  vocation  of  being  the  people  of  Je- 
hovah. 


D— MOSES  AND  AAEOX  BEFORE  PHARAOH.  THE  SEE:MINGLY  MISCHIEVOUS  EF- 
FECT OF  THEIR  DIVINE  JIESSAGE,  AND  THE  DISCOUR.VGEMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE 
AND  THE  MESSENGERS  THEMSELVES.  GOD  REVERSES  THIS  EFFECT  BY  SO- 
LEMNLY PROMISING  DELIVER.\NCE,  REVEALING  HIS  NAME  JEHOVAH,  SUM- 
MONING THE  HEADS  OF  THE  TRIBES  TO  UNITE  WITH  MOSES  AND  AARON, 
RAISING  MOSES'  FAITH  ABOVE  PH.XRAOH'S  DlTFIANCE,  AND  DECLARING  THE 
GLORIOUS  OBJECT  AND  ISSUE  OF  PHARAOH'S  OBDURACY. 

Ch.aptebs  V.  I— VII.  7. 

1  And  afterward  IMoses  aud  Aaron  went  in  [came]  and  told  [said  unto]  Pharaoh, 
Thus  saith  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  Israel,  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a 

2  feast  unto  me  in  the  wilderness.  And  Pharaoh  said,  Who  is  Jehovah,  that  I  should 
obey  his  voice  to  let  Israel  go  ?     I  know  not  Jehovah,  neither  will  I  [and  moreover 

3  I  will  not]  let  Israel  go.  Aud  they  said,  The  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  with 
[met]  us :  let  us  go,  we  pray  thee,  three  days'  journey  into  the  desert,  and  sacrifice 
unto  Jehovah  our  God,  lest  he  fall  upon  us  with  the  pestilence,  or  with  the  sword. 

4  And  the  king  of  Egypt  said  uuto  them.  Wherefore  do  ye,  Moses  and  Aaron,  let 

5  [release]  the  people  from  their  works  ?  get  you  unto  your  burdens  [tasks].  And 
Pharaoh  said.  Behold,  the  people  of  the  land  now  are  many,  and  ye  make  them 

6  rest  from  their  burdens  [task.s].     And  Pharaoh  commanded  the  same  day  the 

7  taskmaisters  of  the  people,  and  their  officers  [overseers],  saying.  Ye  shall  no  more 
give  the  people  straw  to  make  brick,  as  heretofore ;  let  them  go  and  gather  straw 

8  for  themselves.  And  the  tale  of  the  bricks  which  they  did  make  [have  been 
making]  heretofore,  ye  shall  lay  upon  them  ;  ye  shall  not  diminish  aiir/ht  thereof: 
for  they  be  [ore]  idle ;  therefore  they  cry,  saying,  Let  us  go  and  sacrifice  to  our 

9  God.  Let  there  more  work  be  laid  upon  the  men  [let  the  work  be  heavy  for^  the 
men],  that  they  may  labor  therein  [be  busied  with  it]  f  and  let  them  not  regard 

10  vain  [lying]  words. "  And  the  taskmasters  of  the  people  went  out,  and  their  officers 
[overseers],  and  they  spake  unto  the  people,  saying.  Thus  saith  Pltaraoh,  I  will 

11  not  give  you  straw.     Go  ye,  get  you  straw  where  ye  can  find  it ;  yet  [for]  not  aught 

12  of  your  work  shall  be  diminished.     So  [And]  the  people  were  scattered  abroad 

13  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt  to  gather  stubble  instead  of  [for]  straw.  And 
the  taskmasters  hasted  [urged]  them,  saying.  Fulfil  your  works,  your  daily  tasks, 

14  as  when  there  was  straw.  And  the  officers  [overseers]  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
■which  [whom]  Pharaoh  had  set  over  them,  were  beaten,  and  demanded  [were 
asked],  Wherefore  have  ye  not  fulfilled  your  task  in  making  brick  both  yesterday 

15  and  to-day  as  heretofore?     Then  [And]  the  officers  [overseers]  of  the  children  of 

16  Israel  came  and  cried  uuto  Pharaoh,  saying,  Wherefore  dealest  thou  thus  with  thy 
servants  ?  There  is  no  straw  given  unto  thy  servants,  and  they  say  unto  us,  Make 
brick  ;*  and,  behold,  thy  servants  are  beaten ;  but  the  fault  is  in  thine  own  people 

TEXTUAL   AND   GEAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  3.  This  expression  is  the  same  as  the  one  in  iii.  IS  (on  which  see  the  note),  except  that  here  we  have  NIpJ. 
Instead  of  TT^pJ-    But  the  interchange  of  these  forms  is  so  frequent  that  it  is  most  natural  to  understand  the  two  words 

ae  equivalent  in  sense. — Tr.] 

s  [Ver.  9.  Literally  "upon,"  the  work  being  represented  as  ahurden  imposed  upon  the  Israelites. — Tr.] 

»  [Ver.  9.  Literally,  "do  in  it,"  t.  e.  have  enougli  to  do  in  flie  worl(  given.— Tr.J 

i  [Ver.  10.  If  we  retain  the  order  of  Ihc  words  as  th'  y  stand  in  the  original,  we  Ret  a  much  more  forcible  translation 
of  the  fir«t  part  of  this  verse :  "  Straw,  none  is  given  to  thy  servauta ;  and  '  Brick,'  they  say  to  us, '  make  ye.'  "  This  brings 
out  lorcibly  the  antithesis  between  "  straw  "  aud  "  brick."— Ta.J 


CHAP.  V.  1— VII.  7. 


17  [thy  people  are  in  fault].     But  he  said.  Ye  are  idle,  ye  are  idle  [Idle  are  ye,  idle]  ; 
IS  therefore  ye  say,  Let  us  go  and  do  sacrifice  [and  sacrifice]  to  Jehovah.     Go  there- 
fore now  [And  now  go],  and  work ;  for  [and]  there  shall  no  straw  be  given  you  ; 

19  yet  shall  ye  [and  ye  shall]  deliver  the  tale  of  bricks.  And  the  ofScers  [overseers] 
of  the  children  of  Israel  did  see  that  they  were  in  [saw  themselves  in]  evil  ca.se 
[trouble],  after  it  was  said,  Ye  shall  not  minish  [diminish]  aught  from  your  bricks 

20  of  [bricks,]  your  daily  task.     And  they  met  Moses  and  Aaron,  who  stood  in  the 

21  way  [who  were  standing  to  meet  them],  as  they  came  forth  from  Pharaoh:  Aud 
they  said  unto  them,  Jehovah  look  upon  you,  and  judge ;  because  ye  have  made 
our  savor  to  be  alihon-ed  in  the  eyes  of  Pharaoh,  aud  in  the  eyes  of  his  servants, 

22  to  put  a  sword  in  their  hand  to  slay  us.  And  Moses  returned  unto  Jehovah,  and 
said,  Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  so  evil  entreated  [thou  done  evil  to]  this  people  ? 
why  is  it  that  thou  hast  [why  hast  thou]  sent  me  ?  For  since  I  came  to  Pharaoh 
to  speak  in  thy  name,  he  hath  done  evil  to  this  people ;  neither  hast  thou  delivered 
thy  people  at  all. 

Chap.  VI.  1  Then  [And]  Jehovah  said  unto  ]\Ioses,  Now  shalt  thou  see  what  I  will 
do  to  Pliaraoh  ;  for  with  [through]*  a  strong  baud  shall  he  let  them  go,  and  with 

2  [through]  a  strong  hand  shall  he  drive  them  out  of  his  land.     And  God  spake 

3  unto  iloses,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am  Jehovah.  Aud  I  appeared  unto  Abraham, 
unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  [as]^  God  Almighty,  but  by'  my  name 

4  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them.  And  I  have  also  [I  also]  established  my  cove- 
nant with  them,  to  give  them  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  land  of  their  pilgrimage 

5  [sojourn],  wherein  they  were  strangers  [sojourners].  And  I  have  also  heard  the 
groaning  of  the  children  of  Israel,  whom  the  Egyptians  keep  in  bondage;  and  I 

6  have  remembered  my  covenant.  Wherefore  say  uuto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am 
Jehovah,  and  I  will  bring  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyptians,  a7id 
I  will  rid  [deliver]  you  out  of  their  bondage,  aud  I  will  redeem  you  with  a  stretched- 

7  out  arm  and  with  great  judgments.  And  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people,  and 
I  will  be  to  you  a  God ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  your  God,  which 

8  [who]  bringeth  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyptians.  And  I  will 
bring  you  in  unto  the  land  concerning  the  which  [the  land  which]  I  did  swear  to 
give  it  [to  give]  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob ;  and  I  will  give  it  you  for 

9  an  heritage  [a  possession]  :  I  am  Jehovah.  And  Moses  spake  so  unto  the  children 
of  Israel:  but  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses  for  anguish  [vexation]  of  spirit  and 

10,  11  for  cruel  bondage.     Aud  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Go  in,  speak  unto 
12  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  that  he  let  the  children  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land.    And 
Moses  spake  before  Jehovah,  saying,  Behold,  the  children  of  Israel  have  not  hear- 
kened unto  me;  how  then  [and  how]  shall  Pharaoh  hear  me,  who  amof  uncircum- 
1.3  cised  lips  [uncircumcised  of  lips]  ?     And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto 
Aaron,  and  gave  them  a  charge  unto  the  children  of  Israel  aud  unto  Pharaoh  king 

14  of  Egypt,  to  bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  These  he  [are] 
the  heads  of  their  fathers'  houses  (their  ancestral  houses ) :  The  sons  of  Reuben,  the 
firstborn  of  Israel ;  Hauoch,  and  Pallu,  Hezron,  and  Carmi ;  these  be   [are]   the 

15  families  of  Reuben.  And  the  sons  of  Simeon  ;  Jemuel,  and  Jamin,  and  Thad,  and 
Jachin,  and  Zohar,  and  Shaul,  the  son  of  a  [the]   Canaauitish  woman ;  these  are 

16  the  families  of  Simeon.  And  these  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Levi  according  to 
their  generations  [genealogies]  ;  Gershon,  and  Kohath,  and  Merari :  and  the  years 

17  of  the  life  of  Levi  were  an  [a]  hundred  thirty  and  seven  years.     The  sons  of  Ger- 

18  shon :  Libni,  and  Shimi,  according  to  their  families.  And  the  sons  of  Kohath : 
Amram,  and  Izhar,  aud  Hebron,  and  Uzziel ;  and  the  years  of  the  life  of  Kohath 

19  were  an  [a]  hundred  thirty  and  three  years.  And  the  sons  of  Merari:  Mahali, 
aud  Mushi :  These  are  the  families  of  Levi  according  to  their  generations  [genealo- 

20  gies].     And  Amram  took  him  Jochebed  his  father's  sister  to  wife ;  and  she  bare 

'  rChap.  VI.  Ver.  1.  I.e.  by  yirtae,  or  in  consequence,  of  Jehovah'n  etiong  hand,  not  Pharaoh's,  as  one  might  imagine. 
— Te.] 

Literally,  "I  appeared  ...  in  Goil  Almijlity  "— a  case  of  3  mentCal,  meaning  "in  the  capacity  of."    Vid. 


EwiiUl.  Aus/.Gr.  J  290,  b ;  Ges.  Heh.  Or.'  J  164,  3  a  (v).— Tb, 
^  [Ver.  3.  The  original  has  nu  preposilion. 


Literally :  "  My  name  Jehovah,  I  was  not  known." 
5 


EXODUS. 


tim  Aaron  and  Moses :  and  the  years  of  the  life  of  Amram  were  an  [a]  hundred 

21  and  thirty  and  seven  years.     And  the  sons  of  Izhar :  Korah,  and  Nephez,  and 

22  Zichri.     And  the  sons  of  Uzziel :  Mishael,  and  Elzaphan,  and  Zithri   [Sithri]. 

23  And  Aaron  took  him  Eli^heba,  daughter  of  Amminadab,  sister  of  Naashon,  to 

24  wife ;  and  she  bare  him  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  Eleazar,  and  Ithamar.  And  the  sons 
of  Korah  :  Assir,  and  Elkanah,  and  Abiasaph  :  these  are  the  families  of  the  Kor- 

25  hites.  And  Eleazar,  Aaron's  son,  took  him  one  of  the  daughters  of  Putiel  to  wife; 
and  she  bare  him  Phinehas :  these  are  the  heads  of  the  fathers  of  the  Levites 

26  according  to  their  families.  These  are  that  Aaron  and  Moses,  to  whom  Jehovah 
said,  Bring  out  the  children  of  Israel  from  the  land  of  Egypt  according  to  their 

27  armies  [hosts].  These  are  they  which  [who]  spake  unto  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt, 
to  bring  out  the  children  of  Israel  from  Egypt :  these  are  that  Moses  and  Aaron. 

28  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  day  tvhen  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  in  the  land  of 

29  Egypt,  That  Jehovah  spake  unto  ]Moses,  saying,  I  arn  Jehovah :  speak  thou  unto 

30  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  all  that  I  say  unto  thee.  And  JMoses  said  before  Jehovah, 
Behold  I  am  of  uncircumcised  lips  [uncircumcised  of  lips],  and  how  shall  [will] 
Pharaoh  hearken  unto  me  ? 

Chap.  VII.  1     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  See,  I  have  made  thee  a  god  [God]  to 

2  Pharaoh ;  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  be  thy  prophet.  Thou  shalt  speak  all  that 
I  command  thee  ;  and  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  speak  unto  Pharaoh  that  he  send 

3  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  his  land.     And  I  will  harden   Pharaoh's   heart,  and 

4  multiply  my  signs  and  my  wonders  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  But  Pharaoh  shall 
[will]  not  hearken  unto  you,  that  I  may  [and  I  will]  lay  my  hand  upon  Egypt, 
and  bring  forth  mine  armies,  and  my  people  [my  hosts,  my  people],  the  children 

5  of  Israel,  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  by  great  judgments.  And  the  Egyptians  shall 
know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I  stretch  forth  mine  [my]  hand  upon   Egypt,  and 

6  bring  out  the  children  of  Israel  from  among  them.     And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  as 

7  [did  so ;  as]  Jehovah  commanded  them,  so  did  they.  And  JMoses  was  fourscore 
years  old,  and  Aaron  fourscore  and  three  years  old,  when  they  spake  unto  Pha- 
raoh. 


EXEGETICAL   AND  CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1.    Afterward   Moses  and    Aaron 

■went. — Theii-  message  is  quite  in  accordance 
with  the  philosophical  notions  of  the  ancients, 
and  especially  with  the  Israelitish  faith.  Having 
accepted  the  message  from  Horeb,  Israel  became 
Jehovah's  people,  Jehovah  Israel's  God;  and  as 
Israel's  GoJ,  He  through  His  ambassadors  meets 
Pharaoh,  and  demands  that  the  people  be  re- 
leased, in  order  to  render  Him  service  in  a  reli- 
gious festival.  The  message  accords  with  the 
situation.  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  may 
seem  to  Pharaoh  chiefly  the  national  deity  of 
Israel;  but  there  is  an  intimation  in  the  words 
that  He  is  also  the  Lord  of  Pharaoh,  of  Egypt, 
and  of  its  worship.  Under  the  petition  for  a 
furlough  lurks  the  command  to  set  free  ;  under 
the  recognition  of  the  power  of  Pharaoh  over 
the  people,  the  declaration  that  Israel  is  Jeho- 
vah's free  people  ;  under  the  daty  of  celebrating 
a  feast  of  Jehovah  in  the  wilderness,  the  thought 
of  separating  from  Egypt  and  of  celebrating  the 
Exodus.  The  words  seemed  like  a  petition 
which  had  an  echo  like  a  thunder  tone.  Per- 
haps the  instinct  of  the  tyrant  detected  some- 
thing of  this  thunder-tone.  But  even  if  not,  the 
modest  petition  was  enough  to  enrage  him. 

Ver.  2.  'Who  is  Jehovah  ? — As  the  heathen 
had  the  notion  that  the  gods  governed  territo- 
rially, the  Jews  seemed  to  fall  under  the  domi- 
nion of  the  Egyptian  gods.  They  had  no  land, 
had  moreover  iu  Pharaoh's  eyes  no  right  to  be 


called  a  nation ;  therefore,  even  if  they  had  a 
deity,  it  must  have  been,  in  his  opinion,  an 
anonymous  one.  This  seemed  to  him  to  be 
proved  by  the  new  name,  Jehovah  (which  there- 
fore could  not  have  been  of  Egyptian  origin). 
But  even  disregard  of  a  known  foreign  deity 
was  impiety  ;  still  more,  disregard  of  the  un- 
known God  who,  as  such,  was  the  very  object 
towards  which  all  his  higher  aspirations  and 
conscientious  compunctions  pointed.*  Thus  his 
obdui%cy  began  with  an  act  of  impiety,  which 
was  at  the  same  time  inhumanity,  inasmuch  as 
he  denied  to  the  people  freedom  of  worship. 
He  was  the  prototype  of  .all  religious  tyrants. 

Ver.  3.  He  is  glorified   by   us.— [This  is 
Lange's  translation  of  ^J"^;^  '^^p^.l-f     The  cor- 


*  [This  is  patting  a  rather  fine  point  on  Pharaoh's  wicli- 
edness.  A  bad  man  cannot,  as  such,  be  required  to  have 
aspirations  towards  any  hith.-rto  unknown  god  of  whom  be 
mav  chance  to  hear,  antl  to  have  s  '  ----'-■—-  -— -  •-- 
cause  he  has  never  lit-foro  heard  of  1 
that,  as  a  polytheist,  he  ought  to  hs 
of  the  Hebrews.— Tk.] 

t  [See  under  "  Textual  and  Grammatical."  It  is  true  that 
rT'pJ  would  be  the  usual  form  for  the  meaning  "has  met;" 
but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  certain  that  X^p  sometimes  ia 
— n^p.  and  the  analogy  of  iii.  18  points  almost  unmistakably 
to  such  a  nse.  Moreover,  even  if  this  were  rot  the  case,  it  is 
hard  tu  see  how  the  Hebrew  can  be  rendered:  "He  is  glori- 
fied by  us."  For  S'^p^  docs  not  mean  "is  glorified,"  and 
^ySj?  does  not  mean  "  by  ns.''  If  the  verb  is  to  be  taken 
in  its  ordinary  sense,  the  whole  expression  wonld_  read: 


-VII.  7. 


17 


rection:  "He  hath  met  us"  (H^j^),  weakens 
the  force  of  a  significant  word.  They  appeal  to 
the  fact  that  Jehovah  from  of  old  has  been  their 
fathers'  God;  and  also  in  their  calling  them- 
selves Hebrews  is  disclosed  the  recollection  of 
ancient  dignities  and  the  love  of  freedom  grow- 
ing out  of  it.— Three  days'  journey. — Keil 
says:  "  In  Egypt  offerings  may  be  made  to  the 
gods  of  Egypt,"  but  not  to  the  God  of  the  He- 
brews." But  see  viii.  26.  In  the  "three  days' 
journey  "  also  is  expressed  the  hope  of  freedom. 
— With  the  pestilence. — A  reference  to  the 
power  of  Jehovah,  as  able  to  inflict  pestilence 
and  war,  and  to  His  jealousy,  as  able  so  severely 
to  punish  the  neglect  of  the  worship  due  Him. 
Not  without  truth,  but  also  not  without  Bubtile- 
ness,  did  they  say,  "lest  He  fall  upon  us;"  in 
the  background  was  the  thought:  "lest  He  fall 
upon  thee."  Clericus  remarks  that,  according 
to  the  belief  of  the  heathen,  the  gods  punish  the 
neglect  of  their  worship. 

Yer.  4.  "Wherefore,  Moses  and  Aaron.— 
He  thus  declares  their  allegation  about  a  mes- 
sage from  Jehovah  to  be  fictitious.  He  conceives 
himself  to  have  to  do  only  with  two  serfs. — 
Release  the  people. — -ind  so  introduce  an- 
archy and  barbarism.  The  same  objection  has 
been  made  against  propositions  to  introduce 
freedom  of  evangelical  religion. — -Get  you  to 
your  burdens. — To  all  the  other  traits  of  the 
tyrant  this  trait  of  ignorance  must  also  be  added. 
As  he  thinks  that  Jloses  and  Aaron  belong 
among  the  serfs,  so  he  al^o  thinks  that  servile 
labor  is  the  proper  employment  of  the  people. 

Ver.  6.  The  people  of  the  land  (peasants). 
The  simple  notion  of  countrymen  can,  according 
to  the  parallel  passages,  Jer.  lii.  25  and  Erek. 
vii.  27,  denote  neither  bondmen  nor  Egyptian 
countrymen  as  a  caste,  although  both  ideas  are 
alluded  to  in  the  expression,  a  people  of  pea- 
sants, who  as  such  must  be  kept  at  work,  espe- 
cially as  there  are  becoming  too  many  of  them. 
The  perfect  sense,  "  Ye  have  made  them  rest," 
is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  fancy  of  the  tyrant. 

Yer.  6.  The  same  day. — Restlessness  of  the 
persecuting  spirit.  The  D;'3  D'fc'JJ,  or  the 
"drivers  over  them,"  are  the  Egyptian  over- 
seers who  were  appointed  over  them;  the 
D'lDi^,  or  the  scribes  belonging  to  them,  were 
takenfrom  the  Jewish  people,  officers suboidinali 
to  the  others,  in  themselves  leaders  of  the  peoj^U 

Ver.  7.  "The  bricks  in  the  old  monuments 
of  Egypt,  also  in  many  pyramids,  are  not  burnt, 
but  only  dried  in  the  sun,  as  Herodotus  (II 
130)  mentions  of  a  pyramid"  (Keil).  The  bricks 
were  made  firm  by  means  of  the  chopped  straw, 
generally  gathered  from  the  stubble  of  the  har- 
vested fields,  which  was  mixed  with  the  clay. 
This  too  is  confirmed  by  ancient  monuments. 
Hengstenberg,  Egypt,  etc.,  p.  80  sq. — Hereto- 
fore.— Heb.:  "yesterday  and  the  day  before 
yesterday."  The  usual  Hebrew  method  of  de- 
signating past  time. 

Ver.  9.  Regard  lying  words.— Ipty  '"^31  — 
Thus  he  calls  the  words  of  Moses  concerning 
Jehovah's  revelation. 

Ver.  10.  Even  the  Jewish  scribes  yield  with- 
out opposition.  They  have  become  slavish  tools 
of  the  foreign  heathen  despotism. 


Ver.  IG.  Thy  people  is  in  fault  (or  sin- 
nethj. — .\ccording  to  Knobel,  the  phrase  "thy 
people"  refers  to  Israel;  according  to  Keil,  to 
the  Egyptians.  The  latter  view  is  preferable; 
it  is  au  indirect  complaint  concerning  the  con- 
duct of  (he  king  himself,  against  whom  they  do 
not  dare  to  make  direct  reproaches.  "  nSUn 
is  a  rare  feminine  form  for  HNipn  (see  on  Gen. 
xxxiii.  11)  and  a>2  is  construed  as  feminine,  as 
in  Judg.  xviii.  7;  Jer.  viii.  5"  (Keil).* 

Yer.  21.  Ye  have  made  our  savor  to  be 
abhorred  (Heb.  to  stink)  in  the  eyes. — The 
strong  figurativeness  of  the  expression  is  seen 
in  the  incongruity  between  odor  and  eyes.  The 
meaning  is:  ye  have  brought  us  into  ill-repute. 

Ver.  22.  Augustine's  iuterpretation:  Hxcnon 
contumacise  verba  sunt,  vil  indignalionis  sed  inquisi- 
tionis  el  orationis,  is  not  a  sufficient  explanatioa 
of  the  mood  in  which  Moses  speaks.  It  is  the 
mark  of  the  genuineness  of  the  personal  relation 
between  the  believers  and  Jehovah,  that  they 
may  give  expression  even  to  their  vexation  in 
view  of  Jehovah's  unsearchable  dealings.  Ex- 
pressions of  this  sort  run  through  the  book  of 
Job,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Prophets,  and  over 
into  the  New  Testament,  and  prove  that  the  ideal 
religion  is  not  that  in  which  souls  stand  related 
to  God  as  selfless  creatures  to  an  absolute  des- 
tiny. 

Chap.  VI.  1-3.  Knobel  finds  here  a  new  ac- 
count of  the  call  of  Moses,  and  that,  by  the  Elo- 
hist.  A  correct  understanding  of  the  connec- 
tion destroys  this  hypothesis.  Moses  is  in  need 
of  new  encouragement.  Therefore  Jehovah,  first, 
repeats  His  promise,  by  vigorous  measures  to 
compel  Pharaoh  to  release  Israel,  in  a  stronger 
form  (comp.  iii.  19;  iv.  21);  and  then  follows 
the  declaration  that  this  result  is  pledged  in  the 
name  Jehovah,  that  the  name  Jehovah,  in  its 
significance  as  the  source  of  promise,  surpasses 
even  the  name  God  Almighty.  If  the  fathers,  iu 
the  experience  of  His  miraculous  help,  have  be- 
come acquainted  with  Him  as  God  Almighty, 
they  are  now  to  get  a  true  knowledge  of  Him  as 
the  God  of  helpful  covenant  faithfulness.  This 
is  the  reason  why  he  recurs  to  the  name  Jeho- 
hovah.  Comp.  Keil,  p.  467-1 


*    Th      I  mi  n    f  Ivii  Ul    here  rejected,  is  held  al<'o  by 

T  1    tlare     The  meaning,  according 

tlie  Israelites)  are  treated  as  it 

I  r  t  .  ,d  nXOn  »s  a  verb  in  tho 

i  a5t«i)ffet?  TOv  Kaov  aov,  "ttlou 

r  I  I  still  other  c-tplmalions  bave 

Utii  1  s  rt    I  tn,  1  tit  tli^  one  given  by  Liugc  is  the  most 

natural,  and  is  qmto  sdti&factorj.— Tb  j 

t  [Notice  should  be  Uken  of  the  fact  thnt  from  ver  3  it 
his   been   inferred   bv  many  thit   the   nam      t  Ii   \  ih   had 


after  the  time  hei  1  t 

in  the  theoriis  c  ii  i  I  h 

Cerlainh  if  weprie-- tl.e  hlLnl  iij  inin„  t  tm  list  iliiuse 
ot  vir  i  It  would  stem  to  foUou  th  it  the  name  Jehovih 
(Yihveh)  wai  now  tor  the  tirst  time  male  known  But,  to 
S.IJ  nothin,:  of  the  fict  that  the  nime  jHhr\di  is  not  only 
fimiliarU  usid  by  the  author  of  the  b  k  t  l.  n  h  lot  H 
aKo  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  eai lust  1    i  I      I  i  li 

might  be  regarded  as  a  proleptic  use  «.  I  il  s 

anachronism),  it  is  perhaps  sufilcient  t    i  ti 

mft  rence  from  the  passage  before  us  t 

cial  Mew  of  the  significance  of  tho  wor  i  i  in 

the  Bible,  and  especially  in  tho  Hebren  s^rii  t  jr  s  The 
na^iie  of  a  person  was  conceived  as  representing  his  character^ 


18 


Ver.  4.  Vid.  the  promises,  Gen.  xyii.  7,  8 ; 
xxvi.  o  ;   xxsv.  11,  12. 

Ver.  0.  I  am  Jehovah.  With  tliis  name  He 
begins  and  ends  (ver.  8)  His  promise.  With  the 
name  Jehovah,  then,  He  pledges  Himself  to  the 
threefold  promise:  (1)  To  deliver  the  people 
from  bondage  ;  (-)  to  adopt  them  as  His  people  ; 
(3)  to  lead  lliem  to  Canaan,  their  future  posses- 
sion.— With  astretched-outarm.  Astronger 
expression  than  nj^m  T.  Comp.  Deut.  iv.  34  ; 
T.  15 ;  vii.  19. 

Ver.  9.  For  vexation  of  spirit.  Gesenius : 
Impatience.  Keil:  Shortness  of  breath,  i.  e., 
anguish,  distress. 

Vers.  10,  11.  While  Moses'  courage  quite  gives 
way,  Jehovah  intensifies  the  language  descrip- 
tive of  his  mission. 

Ver.  12.  On  the  other  hand,  Moses  intensifies 
the  expression  with  which  he  made  (iv.  10)  his 
want  of  eloquence  an  excuse  for  declining  the 
on. — Of  uncircumcised  lips.  Since 
lion  was  symbolic  of  renewal  or  regene- 
ration, this  expression  involved  a  new  phase  of 
thought.  If  he  was  of  uncircumcised  or  unclean 
lips  (Ilia.  vi.  5),  then  even  Aaron's  eloquence 
could  not  help  him.  because  in  that  case  Moses 
could  not  transmit  in  its  purity  the  pure  word 
of  God.  In  his  strict  conscientiousness  he  sin- 
cerely assumes  that  there  must  be  a  moral  hin- 
deranoe  in  his  manner  of  speaking  itself. 

Ver.  13.  This  time  Jehovah  answers  with  an 
express  command  to  Moses  and  Aaron  together, 
and  to  the  children  of  Israel  and  Pharaoh  toge- 
ther. This  comprehensive  command  alone  can 
beat  down  Moses'  last  feeling  of  hesitation. 

Vers.  14-27.  But  as  a  sign  that  the  mission  of 
Moses  is  now  determined,  that  Moses  and  Aaron, 
therefore,  are  constituted  these  prominent  men 
of  God,  their  genealogy  is  now  inserted,  the  form 
of  which  shows  that  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  an 
extract  from  a  genealogy  of  the  twelve  tribes, 
since  the  genealogy  begins  with  Reuben,  but  does 
not  go  beyond  Levi. 

Ver.  14.  riUN-jT3.  "Father-houses,  not  fa- 
ther-house" [Keil].  The  compound  form  has 
become  a  simple  word.  See  Keil,  p.  459.  The 
father-houses  are  the  ramifications  of  the  tribes. 
The  tribes  braach  off  first  into  families,  or  clans, 
or  heads  of  the  father-houses ;  these  again  branch 
off  into  the  father-houses  themselves.  The  Am- 
ram  of  ver.  20  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
Amram  of  ver.  18.  See  the  proof  of  this  in  Tiele, 
Chronologie  des  A.  T.;  Keil,  p.  409.*     The  text. 


be  sure,  does  not  clearly  indicate  the  distinc- 
tion. "The  enumeration  of  only  four  genera- 
tions— Levi,  Kohath,  Amram,  Moses— points  un- 
mistakably to  Gen.  XV.  16"  (Keil). 

Ver.  20.  Hi3  father's  sister  — That  was  be- 
fore the  giving  of  the  law  in  Lev.  xviii.  12.  The 
LXX.  and  Vulg.  understand  the  word  HIH  of 
the  daughter  of  the  father's  brother.  According 
to  ch.  vii.  7,  Aaron  was  three  years  older  than 
Moses;  that  Miriam  was  older  than  either  is 
seen  from  the  history. 

Ver.  23.  Aaron's  wife  was  from  the  tribe  of 
Judah.     Vid.  Num.  ii.  3. 

Ver.  25.  Fl'US  '^Nl.  Abbreviation  of  '»S1 
ni2X  n'5  ["  heads  of  the  father-houses  "]. 

Ver.  2G.  These  are  that  Asron  and 
Moses. — Thus  the  reason  is  given  for  inserting 
this  piece  of  genealogy  in  this  place. 

Ver.  28.  Resumption  of  the  narrative  inter- 
rupted at  ver.  12.  What  is  there  said  is  here 
and  afterward  repeated  more  fully.  In  the 
land  of  Egypt. — This  addition  is  not  a  sign  of 
another  account,  but  only  gives  emphasis  to  the 
fact  that  Jehovah  represented  Himself  in  the  very 
midst  of  Egypt  as  the  Lord  of  the  country,  and 
gave  Moses,  for  the  furtherance  of  his  aim,  a 
sort  of  divine  dominion,  namely,  a  theocratic 
dominion  over  Pharaoh. 

Chap.  VII.  1.  What  Moses  at  first  was  to  be 
for  Aaron  as  the  inspiring  Spirit  of  God,  that  he 
is  now  to  be  for  Aaron  as  representative  of  God 
in  His  almighty  miraculous  sway.  So  far  Aaron's 
position  also  is  raised.  It  must  not  be  overlooked 
that,  with  this  word  of  divine  revelation,  Moses' 
growing  feeling  of  lofty  confidence  and  assurance 
of  victory  corresponds ;  it  was  developed  in 
Egypt  itself,  and  from  out  of  his  feeling  of  in- 
ability. "  For  Aaron  Moses  is  God  as  the  re- 
vealer,  for  Pharaoh  as  the  executor,  of  the  divine 
will"  (Keil). 

Ver.  2.  That  he  send. — Keil's  translation, 
"  and  so  he  will  let  go,"  does  not  accord  with 
the  following  verse. 

Ver.  4.  My  hosts. — Israel  becomes  a  host 
of  Jehovah.  Vid.  xiii.  18,  and  the  book  of  Num- 
bers. This  is  the  first  definite  germ  of  the  later 
name,  God,  or  Jehovah,  of  hosts;  although  the 
name  in  that  form  chiefly  refers  to  heavenly 
hosts;  these  under  another  name  have  been 
mentioned  in  Gen.  xxxii.  2. 


itn    tlif 


.He- 


CHAP.  VII.  8-25. 


SECOND    SECTION. 

The  miracles  of  Moses,  or  the  result  of  the  nine  Egyptian  Plagues,  preliminary  to 
the  last.     Pharaoh's  alternate  repentance  and  obduracy. 

Chaps.  VII.  8— X.  29. 

A.— MOSES'  MIRACULOUS  ROD  AND  THE  EGYPTIAN  MAGICIANS.     THE  FIRST  PLAGUE 
INFLICTED  WITH  THE  ROD:     CHANGE  OF  THE  WATER  INTO  BLOOD. 

Chapter  VII.  8-25. 
8,  9     And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  saying,  When  Pharaoh  shall 
speak  unto  you,  saying,  Shew  a  miracle  for  you  [yourselves]  :  then  thou  shalt  say 
uuto  Aaron,  Take  thy  rod,  and  cast  it  before  Pharaoh,  and  it  shall  become  [let  it 

10  become]  a  serpent.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  went  in  uuto  Pharaoh,  and  they  did  so 
as  Jehovah  had  commanded:  and  Aaron  cast  down  his  rod  before  Pharaoh,  and 

11  before  his  servants,  and  it  became  a  serpent.  Then  [And]  Pharaoh  also  called  the 
wise  men  and  the  sorcerers  :  now  [and]  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  they  also  did  in 

12  like  manner  with  their  enchantments  [secret  arts].  For  [And]  they  cast  down 
every  man  his  rod,  aud  they  became  serpents  ;   but  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  their 

13  rods.     And  he  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart  [Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened]',  that 

14  [aud]  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  Jehovah  had  said.     And  Jehovah  said  unto 

15  Moses,  Pharaoh's  heart  is  hardened  [hard]^  he  refuseth  to  let  the  people  go.  Get 
thee  unto  Pharaoh  in  the  morning  ;  lo,  he  gocth  out  unto  the  water ;  aud  thou  shalt 
stand  by  the  river's  brink  against  he  come  [to  meet  him];  and  the  rod  which  was 

16  turned  to  a  serpent  shalt  thou  take  in  thine  [ihy]  hand.  And  thou  shalt  say  unto 
him,  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  the  Hebrews  h:itli  smt  me  uuto  thee,  saying,  Let 
my  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  me  in  iIm'  wiKKim-s:  and,  behold,  hitherto 

17  thou  wouldest  not  hear  [hast  not  heard,  i.  e.,  olieyed].  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  In  this 
thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  :  behold,  I  will  smite  with  the  rod  that  is  in 
mine  [my]  hand  upon  the  waters  which  are  in  the  river,  and  they  shall  be  lurned 

18  to  blood.     And  the  fish  that  is  in  the  river  shall  die,  and  the  river  shall  stink  ;  and 

19  the  Egyptians  shall  loathe  to  drink  of  [drink]  the  water  of  [from]  the  river.  Aud 
Jehovah  spake  [said]  uuto  Moses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Take  thy  rod,  and  stretch  out 
thine  [thy]  hand  upon  the  waters  of  Egypt,  upon  their  streams,  upon  their 
rivers  [canals],'  upon  their  ponds,  and  upon  all  their  pools  of  water,  that  they  may 
become  blood ;  and  that  there  may  [and  there  shall]  be  blood  throughout  all  the 

20  land  of  Egypt,  both  in  vessels  of  y^ood,  and  in  vessels  of  stone.  And  Moses  and 
Aaron  did  so,  as  Jehovah  commanded  ;  and  he  lifted  up  the  rod,  and  smote  the 
waters  that  tvere  in  the  river,  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh,  and  in  the  sight  of  his  ser- 

21  vants ;  and  all  the  waters  that  tvere  in  the  river  were  turned  to  blood.  And  the 
fish  that  was  in  the  river  died  ;  and  the  river  stank  ;  and  the  Egyptians  could  not 
drink  of  [drink]  the  water  of  [from]  the  river  ;  and  there  was  blood  throughout 

22  all  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  the  magicians  of  Egypt  did  so  with  their  enchant- 
ments [secret  arts]  :  and  Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened,  neither  did  he  [and  he  did 

23  not]  hearken  unto  them;  as  Jehovah  had  said.     And  Pharaoh  turned  and  went 

TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  13.  The  same  form  here,  pin",  as  in  vcr,  22,  where  the  A.  V.  correctly  renders  it  intransitively.    Literally, 
•*  was  firm,  or  etronjr,"  i.  c,  unyielding,  unimpresftible. — Ta.J. 

2  [Ver.  14.  The  Hebrew  has  hero  a  different  word,  133.    Literally, '  heavy  "—the  same  word  which  Moses  used  reapect- 

vhich  is  used  almost  exclusively  of  the  Nile.    Here  probably  it  signifies  the 


20 


into  his  house,  neither  did  he  [and  he  did  not]   set  his  heart  to  this  also   [even  to 

24  this].*     And  all  the  Egyptians  digged  round  about  the  river  for  water  to  drink  ; 

25  for  they  could  not  drink  of  the  water  of  the  river.     And  seven  days  were  fulfilled, 
after  that  Jehovah  had  smitten  the  river. 

into  blood  is,  according  to  Joel  iii.  4  [ii.  31], 
according  to  wliicli  tlie  moon  is  clianged  inlo 
blood,  to  be  conceived  as  a  blood-red  coloring  by 
which  it  acquired  the  appearance  of  blood  (2 
Kings  iii.  22),  not  as  a  chemical  transformation 
into  real  blood.  According  to  the  reports  of 
many  travellers,  the  Nile  water,  when  lowest, 
changes  its  color,  becomes  greenish  and  almost 
undrinkable,  whereas,  when  rising,  it  becomes 
red,  of  an  ochre  hue,  and  then  begins  to  be  more 
wholesome.  The  causes  of  this  change  have  not 
yet  been  properly  investigated"  (Keil).  Two 
causes  are  alleged:  the  red  earth  in  Sennaar,  or, 
according  to  Ehrenberg,  microscopic  infusoria. 
Even  the  Rhine  furnishes  a  feeble  analogue.  The 
heightening  of  the  natural  event  into  a  miracu- 
lous one  lies  in  the  prediction  of  its  sudden  oc- 
currence and  in  its  magnitude,  so  that  the  red 
Nile  water  instead  of  becoming  more  wholesome 
assumes  deadly  or  injurious  properties. 

Ver.  19.  That  blood  should  come  into  all  the 
ramifications  of  the  water,  even  to  the  stone  and 
wooden  vessels,  is  evidently  the  result  of  the  pre- 
vious reddening  of  the  Nile.  Kurtz  exaggerates 
the  miracle  by  inverting  the  order  of  the  red- 
dening of  the  water.  His  notion  is  refuted  by 
Keil,  p.  479.* 

Ver.  22.  How  could  the  Egyptian  sorcerers  do 
the  like,  when  the  water  had  already  been  all 
changed  to  blood  ?  Kurtz  says,  they  took  well- 
water.  But  see  Keil  in  reply. f  According  to 
the  scriptural  representation  of  such  miracles  of 
darkness,  they  knew  how,  by  means  of  lying 
tricks,  to  produce  the  appearance  of  having  made 
the  water.  In  this  case  it  was  not  difficult,  if 
they  also  used  incantations,  and  the  reddening 
of  the  water  subsequently  increased. 

Ver.  25.  Seven  days  were  fulfilled.  The 
duration  of  the  plague.  The  beginning  of  the 
plague  is  by  many  placed  in  June  or  July ,  "accord- 
ing to  which  view  all  the  plagues  up  to  the  killing 
of  the  first-born,  which  occurred  in  the  night  of 
the  14th  of  Abib,  i.  e.,  about  the  middle  of  April, 
must  have  occurred  in  the  course  of  about  nine 
months.  Yet  this  assumption  is  very  insecure, 
and  only  so  much  is  tolerably  certain,  that  the 
seventh  plague  (of  the  hail)  took  place  in  Feb- 
ruary (see  on  ix.  31  sq.)"  (Keil).  Clearly,  how- 
ever, the  natural  basis  of  the  miraculous  plagues 
is  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects. 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
On  the  whole  series  of  Egyptian  plagues,  see 
the  Introduction.  But  we  reckon  not  nine 
plagues  (with  Keil),  but  ten,  as  a  complete  num- 
ber symbolizing  the  history  of  the  visitation. 
Moses'  miraculous  rod  forms  the  prologue  to  it ; 
the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the 
Red  Sea,  the  epilogue. 

1.  Moses'  miraculous  rod  in  contest  with  the 
divining  rods  of  the  Egyptian  wise  men,  vers.  8-13. 

Vers.  8,  9.  Shew  a  miracle  for  yourselves. 
— It  is  a  general  assumption,  shared  also  by  the 
Egyptians,  that  an  ambassador  of  God  must  at- 
test his  mission  by  signs,  miraculous  signs.  Take 
thy  rod. — Aaron's  rod  is  Moses'  rod,  which, 
however,  passes  over  into  his  hand,  as  Moses' 
word  into  his  mouth. — A  serpent.  The  He- 
brew is  ['3n.  LXX.  SpaKuu.  According  to  Keil 
the  expression  is  selected  with  reference  to  the 
Egyptian  snake-charmers.  He  says,  "  Comp. 
Bochart,  llieroz.  111.,  p.  102  sqq.,  ed.  Rosenmiil- 
ler;  and  Hengstcnberg,  Eyi/pt  and  the  Books,  etc., 
p.  100  sqq.  Probably  the  Israelites  in  Egypt 
designated  by  \'^y},  which  occurs  in  Deut.  sxsii. 
33 ;  Ps.  xci.  13,  in  parallelism  with  \T}2,  the  snake 
with  which  the  Egyptian  serpent-charmers  chiefly 
carry  on  their  business,  the  Hayeh  of  the  Arabs." 
Of  the  so-called  Psylli  it  is  only  known  that  they 
are  able  to  put  serpents  into  a  rigid  state,  and  in 
this  sense  to  transform  them  into  sticks.  This 
then  is  the  natural  fact  in  relation  and  opposi- 
tion to  which  the  sign,  by  which  Moses  attested 
his  mission,  stands.  The  relation  between  the 
mysterious  miracle  of  Moses  and  the  symbolical 
development  of  it  is  rather  difficult  to  define. 

Ver.  11.  "These  sorcerers  (D"3i^3p),  whom 
the  Apostle  Paul,  according  to  the  Jewish  legend, 
names  Jannes  and  Jambres  (2  Tim.  iii.  8),  were 
not  common  jugglers,  but  CO^n,  wise  men,  .  .  . 
and  D"n)P"]n  hpoypafi/in-e'ic,  belonging  to  the 
caste  of  priests.  Gen.  xli.  8"  (Keil). 

Vers.  12,  13.  Verse  13  does  not  stand  in  di- 
rect relation  to  the  close  of  ver.  12.  The  hard- 
ening of  Pharaoh  cannot  well  relate  to  the  fact 
that  Aaron's  rod  swallowed  up  the  rods  of  the 
sorcerers,  although  this  is  probably  to  be  under- 
stood metaphorically,  but  to  the  fact  that  the 
Egyptian  sorcerers  do  the  same  thing  as  Aaron 
does.  The  essential  difference  between  the  acts 
of  God  and  the  demoniacal  false  miracles  is  not 
obvious  to  the  world  and  the  worldly  tyrants. 

2.  The  transformation  of  the  water  of  the  Nile 
into  blood,  vers.  14-25. 

Ver.  15.  Lo,  he  goeth  out  unto  the  wa- 
ter.    To  worship  the  Nile. 

Ver.  17.  "The   transformation  of  the   water 


*  [The 


Nile  lufore  the  I 
1  K^lisch  1. refer  t 
1  practiced  their  a 


th:.t.  nccnplill?    to  Ku 


CHAP.  VIII.  1-15. 


B.— THE    FROGS. 


Chaps.  VII.  26— VIII.  11  [in  ihe  English  Bible,  Chap.  VIII.  1-1.5]. 

26  [1]     And  Jehovah  spake  [said]  unto  Moses,  Go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  say  unto  him, 

27  [-]  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  me.  And  if  thou 

28  L3J  refuse  to  let  them  go,  behold,  I  will  smite  all  thy  borders'  with  frogs.  And  the 

river  shall  bring  forth  frogs  abundantly  [swarm  with  frogs],  which  [and  they] 
shall  go  up  and  come  into  thy  house,  and  into  thy  bedchamber,  and  upon  thy 
bed,  aud  into  the  houses  of  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  people,  and  into  thiue 

29  [4]  ovens,  and  into  thy  kneading-iroughs :     And  the  frogs  shall  come  up  both  on 

thee,  and  upon  thy  people,  aud  upon  all  thy  servants.^ 
Chap.  VIII.  1  [5].    Aud  Jehovah  spake  [said]  unto  Mcses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Stretch 
forth  thine  [thy]  hand  with  thy  rod  over  the  streams,  and  over  the  rivers  [ca- 
nals], aud  over  the  ponds,  and  cause  frogs  [the  fi-ogs]  to  come  up  upon  the  laud 

2  [G]  of  Egypt.     And  Aaron  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  waters  of  Egypt,  aud 

3  [7J  the  frogs  came  up,  and  covered  the  laud  of  Egypt.     And  the  magicians  did  so 

with  their  enchautmeuts  [secret  arts],  and  brought  up  frogs  [the  frogs]  upon 

4  [8]  the  land  of  Egypt.     Then  [And]   Pharaoh   called  for  Moses  aud  Aaron,  and 

said,  Intreat  Jehovah,  that  he  may  take  away  the  frogs  from  me  aud  from  my 
people;  and  I  will  let  the  people  go,  that  they  may  do  sacrifice  [may  sacrifice] 

5  [9]  unto  Jehovah.     And  ]\Ioses  said  unto  Pharaoh,  Glory  [Have  thou  honor] 

over  me:'  when  [against  what  time]  shall  I  intreat  for  thee,  and  for  thy  ser- 
vants, aud  for  thy  people  to  destroy  the  frogs  from  thee  and  thy  houses,  that 

6  [10]  they  may  remain  iu  the  river  only?     And  he  said.  To-morrow  [Against  to- 

morrow].    And  he  said,  Be  it  according  to  thy  word  ;  that  thou  mayost  know 

7  [11]  that  there  is  none  like  unto  Jehovah  our  God.     And  the  frogs  shall  depart 

from  thee,  aud  from  thy  houses,  and  from  thy  servants,  and  from  thy  people  ; 

8  [12]  they  shall  remain  in  the  river  only.     And   Moses  and  Aaron  went  out  Irom 

Pharaoh,  and  Moses  cried  unto  Jehovah   because  of  the  frogs  which  he  had 

9  [l.*)]  brought  against  Pharaoh.     And  Jehovah  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses : 

and  the  frogs  died  out  of  the  houses,  out  of  the  villages  [courts],  and  out  of 

10  [14]  the  fields.     And  they  gathered  them  together  upou  heaps  [piled  them  up  in 

11  [1-3]  heaps]  :  and  the  land  stank.     But  when  Pharaoh  saw  that  there  was  respite,* 

he  hardened'  his  heart,  and  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  Jehovah  had  said. 


1  [VII.  27.cvm.  2).  Soj  1 


TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

ia  ofteD,  has  a  wider  meaning  than  border;  it  is  equivalent  t 


2  [VII.  29  { VIII.  4).  This  sounds  more  pleonastic  than  the  original,  where  the  order  of  the  words  is  reversed  :  "  Upon 
thee,  and  upon  thy  people.  .  .  .  Hliali  tlio  frogs  come  up."— Tr.]. 

3  [VUI.  6  C9).  HNann  is  variously  rendered.  Oeseuius  and  FUrst  assume  a  root  distinct  from  the  one  the  Hitbp,  of 
which  meanf  tn  '  -  '  -y^^  ^-r,  ^^^  it  "prescribe."  "declare."  "Prescribe  for  me  when  I  shall  intreat,"  etc.  The  LXX.  and 
Vul{.'.  give  It  til  -  .  .1  I  ttliers  understand  tlie  meaning  to  be:  "Take  to  thyself  honor;  for  wht-n  shall  1  intreat" 
eff^.  i  e.,I\M.:  '  II -r  of  fixing  the  time  when  the  plagueshali  cease.  These  two  explanations  yield  nearly 
the  same  S'-ii-i.  i  i  .  i  :  i  resorted  to  (fl.  ff.,  "  Give  glory  over  me,"  t.  e.,  I  will  run  the  risk  of  a  failure,  by  allowing 
thee  to  fix  tli-  n  -     ,  i    n     i     1   --  lilausible.— Tr.]. 

j  the  article,  and  the  sentence  reads,  "saw  that  the  respite  (literally,  breathing-space) 

y."  Comp.  note  on  vii.  11.    The  Inf.  Abs.  is  used  for  the  finite  verb. 


[VIII.  11  [io,.  nnnn  i 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
VTI.  26  [VIII.  1]  sqq.  The  second  plague; 
the  frogs.  They  come  up  out  of  the  mire  of  (lie 
Nile  when  the  water  falls,  especially  from  the 
marshes  of  Ihe  Nile.  On  the  small  Nile-frog 
ealled  raiia  Musaica  or  A'ilotica  by  Sectzen,  see 


Keil.*     How  did  the  natural  event  become  a  mi- 
racle?    (1)  By  the  announcement  of  the  extra 


*  [Keil  gives  no  information  except  by  relerring  to  Seetzen. 
Sei-'tzen  distinguishes  the  rana  A'ihtica  from  th<!  raua  Mo- 
s.aVa,  the  latter  beiog  tile  most  ahuudant.    Frogs  of  this  kind 

tlioiigh  they  are  found  in  waler  until  after  the  imuidatiou 
(which  continues  three  nnuitlis,  beginning  about  June  25). 
Ihe  Egyptian  name  lor  this  frcg  is  do/da.— la.]. 


22 


ordinary  enhancement  of  it  to  the  extent  of  makinf; 
it  a  plague;  vid.  vers.  28,  29  [viii.  3,  4]  ;  (2)  by 
the  equally  confident  promise  of  the  sudden  death 
of  the  frogs.  The  imitation  of  this  miracle  by 
the  sorcerers  may  here  too  have  consisted  in 


their  seeming,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
plague,  to  have  increased  it  by  their  incanta- 
tions. 

VIII.  10  [14].  "Tpn,  the  largest  dry  measure 
of  the  Hebrews. 


C— THE    GNATS. 
Chapter  VIII.   12-15   [16-19]. 

12  [16]       And  Jehovali  said  unto  Moses,  Say  unto  Aaron,  Stretcli  out  tty  rod,  and 

smite  the  dust  of  the  land,  that  it  may  become  lice  [gnats]  throughout  all  the 

13  [17]  land  of  Egypt.     And  they  did  so;  for  [and]   Aaron  stretched  out  his  hand 

■srith  his  rod,  and  smote  the  dust  of  the  earth  [land],  and  it  became  lice  [gnats] 
in  [on]  man,  and  in  [on]  beast ;  all  the  dust  of  the  laud  became  lice  [gnats] 

14  [IS]  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt.     And  the  magicians  did  so  with  their  en- 

chantments [secret  arts]  to  bring  forth  lice  [the  gnats],  but  they  could  not : 

15  [19]  so  [and]  there  were  lice  [gnats]  upon  man,  and  upon  beast.     Then  [And]  the 

magicians  said  unto  Pharaoh,  This  is  the  finger  of  God:  and  Pharaoh's  heart 
was  hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them ;  as  Jehovah  had  said. 

racles.  Satan,  in  all  that  he  says  (Matt,  iv.)  is 
the  liiir.  If  we  take  ver.  13  literally,  we  might 
say  that  Moses  had  already  transformed  all  the 
dust  of  Egypt  into  gnats,  and  that  hence  there 
was  no  dust  left  for  them  to  work  miracles  on. 
But  it  is  more  obvious  to  assume  that  in  this  case 
they  found  the  deception  harder,  or  rather,  that 
thev  were  seized  with  a  religious  terror,  and  now 
declared  to  Pharaoh  that  they  could  go  with  him 
no  further,  in  order  to  induce  him  to  retrace  his 
steps.  This  seems  to  be  implied  in  their  decla- 
ration: "This  is  the  finger  of  God."  According 
to  Bochart  this  means:  nos  no7i  cohibent  Moses  et 
Aoron,  sfd  divina  vis,  utrisque  major.  Keil  adds  : 
"If  they  had  meant  the  God  of  Israel,  DIH' 
would  be  used."  But  did  they  know  Jehovah  ? 
And  did  they  not  also,  as  Egyptian  priests,  refer 
all  their  doings  to  the  influence  of  the  Godhead? 
According  to  Kurtz,  by  "finger"  they  meant  au 
indication  [Fingerzeig],a  warning  of  the  Egyptian 
gods  themselves.  Keil,  on  the  other  hand,  finds 
in  the  finger  of  God  simply  an  expression  of  cre- 
ative omnipotence,  as  in  Ps.  viii.  4  [3]  ;  Lukexi. 
20;  Ex.xxxi.  18.  Yet  the  educating  wisdom  of  God 
is  emphasized,  especially  in  Ex.  xxxi.  18.  The 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  Gods  finger  displayed 
itself  IS  the  prelude  of  the  perception  of  His 
strong  hand  and  His  outstretched  arm.  Therefore 
the  phrase  cnnnot  be  intended  to  designate  either 
the  gods  of  Egypt,  who  could  not  possibly,  in  the 


EXEGETICAL  AXD  CRITICAL. 
Ver.  12  [16]  seq.  Gnats.  DJ3  or  D"33.  Jo- 
Bephus,  the  Rabbins,  [the  A.  V.],  and  Luther  ren- 
der :  "lice."  The  LXX.,  anvhpc^^;  the  Vulg., 
sciniphes.  Very  small,  painfully  stinging  gnats, 
crawling  on  the  skin,  and  even  in  the  nose  and 
ears.  They  are  very  abundant  in  Egypt.  The 
dust  marks  the  transition  from  the  mire  to  the 
time  of  drought.  The  trausformation  of  the  dust 
into  gnats  is  a  symbolic  act,  like  the  transforma- 
tion of  water  into  blood.  They  come  out  of  the 
dust,  and  fly  around  like  the  dust,  too  small  to 
measure  or  to  seize.  Keil  says:  "The  gnats  come 
out  of  the  eggs  laid  in  the  dust  or  ground  by  the 
preceding  generation.  .  .  .  The  miracle  consists 
in  both  cases  not  in  an  immediate  creation,  but 
in  the  pre-announcement,  and  the  corresponding 
sudden  creative  (?)  generation  and  supernatural 
(?)  increase  of  these  animals."  Out  of  theeggs, 
and  at  the  same  time  supernatural — this  is  dis- 
cordant. 

Ver.  14  [IS].  The  scribes.  D"3a-in.  Of 
the  three  forms  of  designation,  D'StyDtl  sorcer- 
ers, D"33n  wise  men,  and  □'"Dtpin  hpoypauna- 
Tflf,  Egyptian  scribes,  attached  to  the  court, 
interpreters  of  hieroglyphic  writings,  the  chief 
one  is  here  selected,  making  the  expression  of 
their  impotence  the  stronger.  They  cannot  imi- 
tate this  miracle.  Why  not?  Knobel  says: 
Because,  according  to  the  writer's  view,  this  was 
a  case  involving  the  production  of  creatures. 
Keil:  Because  God's  omnipotence  in  the  case  of 
this  miracle  p\U  a  check  upon  the  demoniacal 
forces  which  the  sorcerers  had  employed.  Strange 
that  the  characteristic  mark  of  magic  wonders  is 
again  continually  overlooked.  The  agency  of 
Batan  consists  in  lyini/  forces  and  signs  and  mi- 


mind  of  the  priests,  take  pa 


Moses  and 


Aaron,  or  the  God  of  Israel  according  to  the 
Egyptian  nolinn  of  Him,  but  only  the  deity,  as 
conceived  by  a  general  overpowering  religious 
feeling. 

Ver.  15  [19].  "Was hardened.  Keil's  infer- 
ence, "This  punitive  miracle,  therefore,  made  on 
Pharaoh  no  impression,"  obliterates  the  antithe- 
sis which  the  text  brings  out  [viz.,  that  although 
the  magicians  saw  a  divine  hand  in  the  miracle, 
yet  Pharaoh  remained  obdurate]. 


CHAP.  VIII.  16-28 


D.— THE  BLOOD-SUCKING  GAD-FLT. 
Chap.  VIII.  16-28  [20-32]. 

16  [20]       AxD  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Rise  up  early  in  the  moruing,  and  stand 

before  Pharaoh :  lo,  he  cometh  forth  to  the  water ;  and  say  unto  him,  Thus 

17  [21]  saith  Jehovah,  Let  my  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  me.     Else   [For]  if 

thou  wilt  not  let  my  people  go,  behold,  I  will  send  swarms  of  flies  [send  the 
flies]  upon  thee,  and  upon  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  people,  and  into  thy 
houses:  and  the  houses  of  the  Egyptians  shall  be  full  of  swarms  of  flies  [full 

18  [22]  of  the  flies],  and  also  the  ground  whereon  they  are.     And  I  will  sever  [sepa- 

rate] in  that  day  the  land  of  Goshen,  in  which  my  people  dwell,  that  no 
swarms  of  flies  [no  flies]  shall  be  there :  to  the  end  thou  raayest  know  that  I 

19  [23]  am  Jehovah  in  the  midst  of  the  earth  [laud].     And  I  will  put  a  division  be- 

20  [24]  tween  my  people  and  thy  people  :  to-morrow  shall  this  sign  be.     And  Jehovah 

did  so;  and  there  came  a  grievous  swarm  of  flies  [came  grievous  flics]  into 
the  house  of  Pharaoh,  and  into  his  servants'  houses,  and  into  all  the  land  of 
Egypt ;  the  land  was  corrupted  [was  like  to  be  destroyed']  by  reason  of  the 
swarm  of  flics  [the  flies]. 

21  [2.5]       And  Pharaoh  called  for  IMoses  and  for  Aaron,  and  said,  Go  ye,  sacrifice  to 

22  [26]  your  God  in  the  land.     And  Moses  said.  It  is  not  meet  so  to  do;  for  we  shall 

[should]  sacrifice  the  abomination  of  the  Egyptians  to  Jehovah  our  God ;  lo, 
shall  we  [if  we  should]  sacrifice  the  abomination  of  the  Egyptians  before  their 

23  [27]  eyes,  and  will  they  [eyes,  would  they]  not  stone  us?^     We  will  go  three  days' 

journey  into  the  wilderness,  and  sacrifice  to  Jehovah  our  God,  as  he  shall 

24  [28]  command  us.    And  Pharaoh  said,  I  will  let  you  go,  that  ye  may  sacrifice  to 

Jehovah  your  God  in  the  wilderness ;  only  ye  shall  not  go  very  far  away : 

25  [29]  entreat  for  me.     And  IMoses  said.  Behold,  I  go  out  from  thee,  and  I  will 

entreat  Jehovah  that  the  swarms  of  flies  may  [and  the  flies  will]  depart  from 
Pharaoh,  from  his  servants,  and  from  his  people,  to-morrow ;  but  [only]  let 
not  Pharaoh  deal  deceitfully  any  more  in  not  letting  the  people  go  to  sacrifice 

26  [30]  to  Jehovah.     And  Moses  went  out  from    Pharaoh  and  entreated  Jehovah. 

27  [31]  And  Jehovah  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses ;  and  he  removed  the  swarms 

of  flies  [the  flies]  from  Pharaoh,  from  his  servants,  and  from  his  people ;  there 

28  [32]  remained  not  one.     And  Pharaoh  hardened  his  heart  at  this  [heart  this]  time 

also,  neither  would  he  [and  he  did  not]  let  the  people  go. 


TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

[Yer.  20  [24].    The  Hebrew  is  nnU^jH.    There  is  no  propriety  in  rendering  the  future  verb  here,  as  is  commonly 

wholly  de- 


dnn^\  '  ^  rh  I')  t  li:  Resides,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  Preterite  is  too  strong;  the  land  ^ 
sli"\  I  lM].,'.^r  that  it  would  be,  and  therefore  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  A-»ron  in 
pi'-I'  liiid.  The  future  tense  expresses  an  action  as  strictly  future,  or  as  future  with  reference  to  another 
y:\~t  '■\  ttr,  -r  -  .  i,-r  innry,  or  aa  going  on  either  at  a  past  or  present  time.  Here  we  must  understand  that  the  devasta- 
tion wa^  ^ n  .711 ,  <iiii  total  ruin  was  impending.    Hence  we  may  render:  "was  being  destroyed,"  or  (aa  we  have  done) 

*'  was  lilie  to  be  destroyed."— Tr.] 

2  [Ver.  22  [26].  The  particle  tn,  commonly  meaning,  "behold,"  seems  to  have  here,  as  occasionally  elsewhere,  the 
force  of  a  conditional  particle.  Tliere  is  no  mark  of  interrogation  in  the  sentence,  and  apparently  Moses  says  :  "  Lo,  we 
shall  sacritico  .  .  .  and  they  will  not  atone  us."  But  the  Sense  seems  to  require  the  last  clause  to  be  taken  interroca- 
tively.— Ttt.] 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Vers.  IG  [20]  sqq.  The  gnats  are  followed  by 

a    worse    plague,    called    2\\       This    definite 

phrase  cannot  signify   "all   kinds   of  vermin" 


(Luther,  Trauuvta,  Sym.).  The  LXX.  render 
Kvvouvia,  "dog-fly,"  by  which  is  to  be  under- 
stood the  larger  species  of  tlies,  the  blood-sucking 
gad-fly,  as  is  especially  to  be  seen  in  the  plague 
of  the  cattle  (vid.  Hengstenbcrg,  Egypt,  etc.,  p. 
116).     Raphael  Hirsoh:  "beast  of  the  desert." 


24 


There  is  no  reason  why  tlie  aJjective  n33,  ver. 
20,  sliould  not  be  rendered  literally,  the  heavy 
(grievous)  dog-fly.  If  133  is  to  convey  the 
notion  of  multitude,  this  must  also  be  indicated 
by  the  substantive.  Moreover,  the  attributive 
"numerous"  would  rather  weaken  than  strength- 
en the  thought.  Numerous  iiiesl*  —  In  this 
plague  two  new  factors  enter  :  (1)  It  is  expressly 
noticed  that  the  land  of  Goshen,  i.  e.,  Israel,  shall 
be  exempt  from  this  plague.  (2)  This  time, 
without  the  symbolic  use  of  Moses'  rod,  the 
visitation  is  announced  only,  and  announced  by 
Jehovah  as  His  own  act.  Moses  and  Aaron  are 
already  sufficiently  accredited  as  messengers  of 
God;  now  their  God  will  manifest  Himself  more 
definitely  as  the  God  of  Israel,  Jehovah,  as  lie 
is  also  at  the  same  time  the  God  (Elohim)  abso- 
lutely, and,  therefore,  also  in  the  midst  of  Egypt. 

Vers.  17,  18  [21,  22].  Notice  the  sententious 
form  of  the  antithesis,  nSufO  and  D'Sip/g — 
[Literally:  "If  thou  will  not  send  my  people 
away,  I  will  send  the  flies  upon  thee,"  etc. 
-Tk.] 

Ver.  19  [2.3].  "nnp,"  says  Keil,  "does  not 
signify  SiaaToXli,  divisio  (LXX.,  Vulg.),  but  ran- 
som, redemption."  At  all  events,  however,  it 
would  be  obscure  to  translate:  "I  will  put  a 
redemption  between  my  people  and  thy  people.' ' 
We  understand:   a  guamntine.f 

Ver.  21  [25].  Pharaoh's  first  concession.  He 
is  willing  to  grant  to  the  people  a  sacrificial  fes- 
tival, accompanied  by  cessation  from  labor,  but 
not  to  let  them  go  out  of  the  land,  because  he 
forebodes  the  consequence  of  a  conditional 
emancipation,  whereas  he  is  unwilling  to  relax 
liis  despotic  power  over  them. 

Ver.  22  [26].  It  is  not  meet  [Lange :  safe]. 
De  Wette  translates  [O:  by  "fitting,"  Keil  by 


*  [Lange  apparently  has  here  in  mind  Keil'3  inteniri'ta- 
tion,  schwere  Mengc,  "  grievous  multitude,"  a  meaning  borne 
out  by  X.  14  ;   Gen.  1.  9,  etc.— Tr.  | 

■f  [Lange's  translation  agrees  with  that  of  A.  V.  Knobel 
conjectures  that  instead  of  n^l3,  we  should  read  ri73, 
"separation,"  from  the  verb  nSfl,  which  is  used  in  the 
prec<>ding  verse.  But  such  a  noun  nowhere  occurs,  though 
it  would  be  an  allowable  formation.  Better  assume,  with 
Gesenius,  FUi-st,  and  the  most,  that  the  noun  has  here  a  nxre, 
though  perhaps  its  original,  meaning,  that  of  redemption 
being  deiived  from  it. — Te.] 


"established."  The  first  expresses  too  little, 
the  second  too  much.* — The  abomination  of 
the  Egyptians. — Knobel  says:  "The  Egypt- 
ians sacrificed  only  bulls,  calves  and  geese  (  He- 
rod. II.  45),  but  no  cows,  as  being  sacred  to 
Isis  (Herod.  II.  41;  Porphyr.  Abstin.  2,  11); 
also  no  turtle-doves  (Porphyr.  4,  7).  Also  no 
sheep  and  goats,  at  least,  not  generally ;  in  the 
worship  of  Isis  at  Thiborna  in  Fhocis  none  co;tld 
be  offered  (Pausan.  10,  32,  9),  and  in  Egypt 
those  who  belonged  to  the  temple  and  district 
of  Mendes  oifered  no  she-goats  or  he-goats, 
though  they  did  offer  sheep  ;  whereas  the  oppo- 
site was  the  case  in  Upper  Egypt  (Herod.  H.  42, 
46).  The  Egyptians  were  greatly  scandalized 
when  sacred  animals  were  sacrificed  or  eaten 
(Josephus,  Apion  I.  26).  The  Hebrews,  on  the 
other  hand,  sacrificed  sheep,  goats  and  rams, 
and  cows  no  less,  e.  g.  for  peace-offerings  (Lev. 
ill  1),  burnt-offerings  (1  Sam.  vi.  14),  sin-offer- 
ings (Num.  xix.),  and  others  (Gen.  xv.  9)." 
Jt  is  singular  that  Keil  can  suppose  the  meaning 
to  be  only  that  the  ceremonial  rules  and  ordi- 
nances [of  the  Egyptians]  were  so  painfully 
minute  that  the  Jewish  method  of  offering  sac- 
rifices might  well  scandalize  the  Egyptians. 
The  sacrifice  of  cows  would  of  itself  be  to  them 
abominable  enough.  The  more  sacred  the  ani- 
mal was,  the  more  abominable  did  the  sacrifice 
of  it  seem  to  be.  But  the  chief  point  in  the 
matter  seems  to  be  overlooked.  It  was  the  offer- 
ing in  Egypt  of  sacrifices  to  Jehovah,  a  god 
foreign  to  the  Egyptians,  which  must  have  been 
an  abomination.  Even  after  the  Reformation 
many  Catholic  princes  thought  that  each  laud 
could  have  but  one  religion. 

Ver.  24  [28].  Pharaoh  permits  them  to  go  out 
a  little  distance  on  condition  that  they  will  in- 
tercede for  him.  Moses  assents,  without  re- 
peating the  demand  for  a  three  days'  journey, 
but  requires  that  Pharaoh  shall  not  deceive  him, 
but  keep  his  word. 

Ver.  28  [32].  The  fourth  hardening  of  the 
heart. 


",T)cAer"  is  without  analogy,  except 
■curtain,"  "sure,"  which  can  hardly 
I-.  Keil's  explanation  is  the  usual 
'I  by  eiattUum,  rectum,  "  right."  1  be 
IS  "fixed;"  but  thid  cannot  be  the 
-Te.] 


E.— THE  PESTILENCE  OF  THE  BEASTS. 
Chapter  IX.  1-7. 


1  Then  [And]  Jehovah  said  unto  ]\Ioses,  Go  in  unto  Pharaoh,  and  tell   [speak 
unto]  him,  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  the  Hebrews,  Let  my  people  go, 

2  that  they  may  serve  me.     For  if  thou  refuse  to  let  them  go,  and  wilt  hold  them 

3  still  [and  still  hold  them],  Behold,  the  hand  of  Jehovah  is'  upon  thy  cattle  which 


TEXTUAL  AND   GEAMMATICAL. 

I  solitary  instance  of  the  participial  form  of  riTI,  though  in  I 
ramaic  form  of  the  verb,  niH,  occurs.    It  might  bo  rendered : 


;h.  vi.  6  and  Eccl.  ii.  22 
■Behold,  the  baud  of  Jel 


CHAP.  IX.  8-12. 


is  in  the  field,  upon  tlie  horses,  upon  the  asses,  upon  the  camels,  upon   the  oxen, 

4  and  upon  the  sheep :  there  shall  be  a  very  grievous  murrain  [pestilence].  And' 
Jehovah  shall  sever  [will  make  a  distinction]  between  the  cattle  of  Israel  and  the 
cattle  of  Egypt :  and  there  shall  nothing  die  of  all  that  is  the  children's  of  Israel. 

5  And  Jehovah  appointed  a  set  time,  saying,  To-morrow  Jehovah  shall  [will]  do  this 

6  thint^  in  the  laud.  And  Jehovah  did  that  [this]  thing  on  the  morrow,  and  all  the 
cattle  of  Egypt  died :  but  of  the  cattle  of  the  children  of  Israel  died  not  one. 

7  And  Pharaoh  sent,  and  behold,  there  was  not  [behold,  nut  even]  one  of  the  cattle 
of  the  Israelites  dead  [was  dead].  And  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  was  hardened  [hard], 
and  he  did  not  let  the  people  go. 


EXEGETIC.iL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1.  Categorical  demand  of  Jehovah  as  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews. 

Ver.  2.  A  more  definite  assumption,  in  view 
of  past  experience,  that  Pharaoh  may  defiantly 
harden  himself. 

Ver.  3.  A  very  grievous  pestilence. — 
The  more  general  term  "I3T  is  used.  The  pes- 
tilence is  to  come  upon  cattle  of  all  sorts  found 
in  the  field. 

Ver.  4.  The  separation  of  Israel  is  more 
marked  here  than  in  viii.  18  [~]. 

Ver.  5.  Besides  the  foregoing  sign,  this  fixing 


of  the  near  time  for  the  infliction  of  the  plague 
is  the  most  miraculous  circumstance,  since,  as 
Keilsays,  "pestilences  among  the  cattle  of  Egypt 
are  wont  to  occur  from  time  to  time  (oomp. 
Pruner,  Die  KrankhdUn  des  Orients,  pp.  103 
112  sq.)."  ^^"^  ' 

Ver.  6.  All  the  cattle.— The  word  all  is  not 
to  be  taken  absolutely,  but  only  in  opposition  to 
the  cattle  of  the  Israelites.  Comp.  vers  9 
and  10. 

Ver.  7.  It  is  another  characteristic  of  the  tyrant 
that  he  cares  the  least  for  this  calamity,  which 
affects  chiefly  his  poor  subjects,  though  he  has 
become  convinced  of  the  miraculous  sparing  of 
the  Israelites. 


F.— THE  BOILS  AND  BLAIXS. 


Chapter  IX.  8-12. 

8  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses  and  unto  Aaron,  Take  to  you  handfuls  of  ashes  of 
the  furnace,  and  let  Moses  sprinkle  it  toward  the  heaven  [toward  heaven]  in  the 

9  sight  of  Pharaoh.     And  it  shall  become  small  [fine]  dust  in  [upon]  all  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  shall  be  a  boil  [become  boils]  breaking  forth  with  blains  upon  man, 

10  and  upon  beast  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  they  took  ashes  of  the 
furnace,  and  stood  before  Pharaoh,  and  Moses  sprinkled  it  up  toward  heaven ;  and 
it  became  a  boil  [became  boils]  breaking  forth  with  blains  upon  man,  and  ujMn 

11  beast.     And  the  magicians  could  not  stand  before  Moses  because  of  the  boils;  for 

12  the  boil  was  [boils  were]  upon  the  magicians,  and  upon  all  the  Egyptians.  And 
Jehovah  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  and  he  hearkened  not  uuto  them,  as 
Jehovah  had  spoken  unto  Moses. 


exegeticjVL  and  critical. 

Ver.  8.  "That  the  sixth  plague,  that  of  the 
boils,  was  extraordinary  only  in  its  extent,  is 
shown  by  comparing  Deut.  xxviii.  27,  where  the 
same  disease  occurs  with  the  name  'boils  [A.  V. 
botch]  of  Egypt,'  as  a  common  one  in  Egypt" 
(Hengstcnberg).  Rosenmiiller  (on  Deut.  xxviii. 
27)  understands  it  of  the  elephantiasis,  which  is 
peculiar  (?)  to  Egypt.  But  between  diseases 
which  chiefly  work  inward  and  boils  there  is  a 
radical  dill'erence.  Also  "  the  elephantiasis  does 
not  affect  cattle"  [Hengstcnberg].  See  other 
interpretations  in  llengstenberg,  £gypt  and  the 


Books  of  Moses.  His  own  explanation  is;  in- 
flammatory pustules— not  merely  heat-piniples. 
ynu  from  \rp,  to  be  hot.  LXX.  O.Kri  pXv/iri- 
<?ff.  Vulg.  ulcera  et  vesicie  turgentes.  Keil  (fol- 
lowing Seetzen) :  the  so-culled  Nile-pox.  Ley- 
rer  (in  Ilerzog's  Real-Enctjclopadie) :  Anthrax,  a 
black  inflammatory  ulcer,  "  whose  occurrence 
has  been  frequently  observed  after  pestilences 
among  beasts,  especially  after  the  inflammation 
of  the  spleen  among  cattle." 

Ver.  9.  The  symbolic  element  in  the  transac- 
tions is  here  especially  prominent.  The  shower 
of  ashes  which  Moses  made  before  Pharaoh's 
eyes  was  only  the  symbolic  cause  of  the  boils 


which  Jehovah  iuflicted.  Kurtz  and  othevs 
associate  this  with  a  propitiatory  rite  of  the 
Egyptians,  the  sprinkling  of  the  ashes  of  sacri- 
fices, especially  of  human  sacrifices.  Uut  here 
no  propitiatory  act  is  performed,  but  a  curse 
inflicted ;  and  it  is  a  far-fetched  explanation  to 
say  that  the  Egyptian  religious  purification  was 
thus  to  be  designated  as  defilement.  Keil  lays 
stress  on  the  fact  that  the  furnace  (]ty33),  ac- 
cording to  Kimchi,  was  a  smelting  furnace  or 
lime-kiln,  and  not  a  cooking-stove,  and  since  the 
great  buildings  of  the  cities  and  pyramids  came 
from  the  lime-kilns,  "  the  sixth  plague  was  to 
show  the  proud  king  that  Jthovah  was  even  able 
to  produce  ruin  for  him  out  of  the  workshops  of 
his  splendid  buildings  in  which  he  was  using 
the  strength  of  the  Israelites,  and  was  so  cruelly 
oppressing  them  with  burdensome  labors  that 
they  found  themselves  in  Egypt  as  it  were  in  a 
furnace  heated  for  the  melting  of  iron  (Deut.  iv. 
20)."  This  view  he  would  confirm  by  the  conside- 
ration that  "in  the  first  three  plagues  the  natu- 
ral resources  of  the  land  were  transformed  into 
sources  of  misery."     The  thought  might  be  fur- 


ther expanded  thus :  All  the  glories  of  Egypt 
were  one  after  another  turned  into  judgments: 
the  divine  Nile  was  changed  into  filthy  blood 
and  brought  forth  frogs  and  gnats;  the  fruit- 
ful soil  produced  the  land-plagues,  dog-flies, 
pestilences,  boils  and  hail;  Egypt,  so  much 
praised  for  its  situation,  was  smitteu  with  the 
curse  of  the  locusts  and  of  the  desert  wind  which 
darkened  the  day;  finally,  the  pride  of  the  peo- 
ple was  changed  into  grief  by  the  infliction  of 
death  on  the  first-born;  and,  to  conclude  all, 
Jehovah  sat  in  judgment  on  the  Egyptian  mili- 
tary power,  Pharaoh's  chariots  and  horsemen  in 
the  Red  Sea.  But  with  all  this  the  boils  are  not 
shown  to  be  a  judgment  upon  Pharaoh's  splen- 
dor. Also  the  alleged  symbol  would  be  not 
easily  understood.  The  ashes  without  doubt  in 
a  pictorial  and  .symbolic  way  by  their  color  and 
fiery  nature  point  to  the  inflammatory  boils  and 
their  color.  With  reason,  however,  does  Keil 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  plague  is  the 
first  one  which  attacked  the  lives  of  men,  and 
thus  it  constituted  a  premonition  of  death  for 
Pharaoh  in  his  continued  resistance. 


G— THE  PLAGUE  OF  THE  HAIL. 
Chaptek  IX.  13-35. 

13  '    And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Rise  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  stand  before 
Pharaoh,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  the  Hebrews, 

14  Let  my  peojile  go,  that  they  may  serve  me.     For  I  will  at  [will]  this  time  send  all 
my  plagues  upon  thine  [into  thy]  heart,  and  upon  thy  servants,  and  upon  thy  peo- 

15  pie  ;  that  thou  mayest  know  that  there  is  none  like  me  in  all  the  earth.     For  now  I 
will  stretch  [I  would  have  stretched]'  out  my  hand,  that  I  maysmite  [and  smitten]  thee 

^and  thy  people  with  pestilence ;  and  thou  shalt  be  [wouldst  have  been]  cut  off  from 

16  the  earth.     And  in  very  deed  [But]  for  this  cause  [for  this]  have  I  raised  thee  up 
[established  thee]  for  to  shew  in  thee  [to  shew  thee]  luy  power,  and  that  my  name 

17  may  be  declared  [to  declare  my  name]  throughout  all  the  earth.     As  yet  esaltest 
thou  [Thou  art  still  exalting]''  thyself  against  my  people,  that  thou  wilt  not  let 

18  them  go?  [not  to  let  them  go].    Behold,  to-morrow  about  [at]  this  time  I  will  cause 
it  to  rain  [I  will  rain]  a  very  grievous  hail,  such  as  hath  not  been  in  Egypt  since 


TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Vers.  16, 16.  The  Perf.  'nnW  and  the  following  Imperfects  with  the  Tav  Consecutive  certainly  cannot  be  ren- 
dered (with  the  A.  V.)  by  the  Future.  It  is  simply  a  case  of  apodosis  with  the  protasis  omitted.  Precisely  similar  is  the 
construction  in  1  Sam.  xiii.  13,  ^i"lDSoO"nX  71111'  V^T]  n/lj?  '3,  which  the  A.  V.  correctly  renders :  "For  now  would 


the  Lord  have  estahlished  thy  kingdom."  Comp.  Ewalil,  Ausfiihrl  Gr.  g  358  a.  Our  translators  seem  in  both  these  verses 
to  have  followed  ttie  LXX.,  the  Vulg.,  and  older  versions,  to  the  neglect  of  the  Hebrew.  Especially  does  this  appear  in 
Ter.  IC,  where  ^nSTI  113J?  3  is  rendered ;  "  for  to  show  in  thee."  Literally :  "in  order  to  cause  thee  to  see."  There 
is  no  possible  amiiiguity  in  the' Hebrew,  God's  power  was  to  be  shown  to  Pharaoh,  not  in  him.  Probably  our  translators 
were  also  influenced  by  the  quotation  of  this  verse  in  Rum.  ix.  17,  where  Paul  follows  the  LXX.  In  the  translation  of 
TmOJl^n,  however,  the  LXX.  are  more  exact  than  Paul.  In  ver.  15  Jehovah  says :  "  I  might  have  smitten  thee,"  *c 
"Bat,"  ho  adds,  "for  this  I  have  preserved  thee  (literally,  caused  thee  to  stand)  in  order  to  show  thee,"  etc.  The  LXX. 
have  fitenjp^^T;?,  in  Itom.  ix.  17  e^riyitpi  ere. — D71X1  means  simply  "but,"  "nevertheless,"  and  not  "in  very  deed." — Tr.] 

2  [Ver.  17.  There  is  no  interrogative  particle  here,  and  no  need  of  translating  the  verse  as  a  question.    It  might  be 
translated  as  a  conditional  clause :  "  If  thou  yet  exalt  thyself,"  etc.,  ver.  13  giving  the  conclusion.— Tr.] 


CRAP.  IX.  13-35. 


19  the  foundation  thereof  even  until  now.  Send  therefore  now  [And  now  send],  and 
gather  [save]  thy  cattle  and  all  that  thou  hast  in  the  field ;  for  upon  [as  for]  every 
man  and  beast  which  shall  be  found  in  the  field,  aud  shall  not  be  brought  [gathered] 

20  home,  the  hail  shall  come  down  upon  them,  aud  they  shall  die.  He  that  feared 
the  word  of  Jehovah  among  the  servants  of  Pharaoh  made  his  servants  and  his 

21  cattle  flee  into  the  houses:  And  he  that  regarded  not  the  word  of  Jehovah  left  his 

22  servants  and  his  cattle  in  the  field.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  8tretch  forth 
thine  [thy]  hand  toward  heaven,  that  there  may  be  hail  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt, 
upon  man,  aud  upon  beast,  and  upon  every  herb  of  the  field  throughout  the  land 

23  of  Egypt.  Aud  Moses  stretched  forth  his  rod  toward  heaven :  and  Jehovah  seut 
thunder  and  hail ;  and  the  fire  [and  fire]  ran  along  upon  the  ground  [came  to  the 

24  earth]  ;  and  Jehovah  rained  hail  upon  the  land  of  Egypt.  So  there  was  hail,  and 
fire  mingled  with  [continuous  fire'  in  the  midst  of]  the  hail,  very  grievous,  such  as 
there  was  none  like  it  [had  not  been]  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  since  it  became  a 

25  nation.  And  the  hail  smote  throughout  all  the  land  of  Egypt  all  that  was  in  the 
field,  both  man  and  beast ;  aud  the  hail  smote  every  herb  of  the  field,  and   brake 

26  every  tree  of  the  field.     Only  in  the  laud  of  Goshen,  where  the  children  of  Israel 

27  iverf,  was  there  no  hail.  And  Pharaoh  seut,  and  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  aud 
said  unto  them,  I  have  sinned  this  time:  Jehovah  is  righteous   [is  the  righteous 

28  one],  and  I  and  my  people  are  wicked  [the  wicked].  Entreat  Jehovah  (for  it  ia 
enough )  that  there  be  no  more  [for  it  is  too  much  that  there  should  be]*  mighty  thun- 

29  derings  and  hail ;  and  I  will  let  you  go,  and  ye  shall  stay  no  longer.  Aud  Moses 
said  unto  him.  As  soon  as  I  am  gone  [When  I  go]  out  of  the  city,  I  will  spread  abroad 
my  hands  uuto  Jehovah :  and  the  thunder  shall  cease,  neither  shall  there  be  any 

30  more  hail ;  that  thou  mayest  know  how  [know]  that  the  earth  is  Jehovah's.  But 
as  for  thee  aud  thy  servants,  I  know  that  ye  will  [do]  not  yet  fear  Jehovah  God. 

31  And  the  flax  and  the  barley  was  smitten ;  for  the  barley  teas  in  the  ear,  aud   the 

32  flax  ivas  boiled  [in  the  blossom].     But  the  wheat  and  the  rye  [spelt]  were  not  smit- 

33  ten  ;  for  they  were  not  grown  up  [for  they  are  late].  And  Moses  went  out  of  the 
city  from  Pharaoh,  aud  spread  abroad  his  hands  uuto  Jehovah :  and  the  thunders 

34  and  hail  ceased,  and  the  rain  was  not  poured  upon  the  earth.  And  when  Pharaoh 
saw  that  the  rain  and  the  hail  and  the  thunders  were  ceased,  he  sinned  yet  more 

35  [again],  and  hardened  his  heart,  he  and  his  servants.  And  the  heart  of  Pharaoh 
was  hardened,  neither  would  he  let  the  children  of  Israel  go;  as  Jehovah  had  spoken 
by  Moses. 

"  (Ter.  24.  The  Hithp.  of  flpS  occur),  besides  bore,  only  ia  Ezek.  i.  4,  where  it  i9  also  used  of  lightning,  and  i3  ren- 
dered in  the  A.  v.:  |' infolding  itself"  (marg.  "catching  itself ").    Tho  idea  seems  to  be  that  of  different  flashes  of  light- 


ickly  that  the  one  secni'-d  to  take  hold  of  tho  other;  or,  perhaps,  it  is  descriptive  of  chuiu-Iigtit 
Lau^e.  f  illowiu;;  l>u  Wette,  aud  others  understand  it  to  mean  balls  of  lire.    This  seems  hardly  to  be  borue  out  by  the 
phr...        T.- 

'11  r  nders:  "Pray  to  Jehovah,  that  it  may  bo  enough  of  God's  Toices  of  thunder."    So,  substantially, 

?Ini[  \ rnheim,  Herxheimcr,  De  Wette,  FUrst,  Philippson,  Rosenmuller,  following  LXX.,  Vulg.    But  it 

i»liii  .1  we  have  to  give  the  expression  this  turn,  whereas  the  original  simply  says:  "and  much."    If  we 

niii^i  -II,  i>i\    i  II  '  hitnlly  justified  in  making  it  Juasire.    And  if  we  were,  by  wliat  right  cin  the  expression  :  "let 

tin  r.' lit- rnn  '  ■   ,1- Inr  and  hoil,'  be  made  to  mean,  "let  there  be  no  morf  thunder  "nd  ha-U"   For  this  is  what 

"enough"  1-  ,1  lliit  while  3T  sometimes  doi.-s  mean  "enough,"  that  is  a  very  different  conception  from  "uo 

more."    Ifnti  '■  f-nouch  of  thunder,"  the  presumption  is  that  he  wants  more  rather  than  loss.    Further- 

more, JO  wiih  .  I.I  n  employed  to  deuote  tho  uegatiou  of  a  re^-u/ ,  yet  IS  perhaps  never  used  elsewhere  to 

df^note  an  nhjfrj  n-i-afivily,  anil  is  certainly  no  i 
There  is  also  no  analogy  for  the  use  of   |3 

understand  it.  And  even  if  p  did  have  the  partitive  sense  (though  even  in  tho  mnllitude  of  instances  in  which 
it  is  connected  with  tiounj  after  3n  it  only  once— Ezek.  xliv.  6— has  a  partitive  sensel,  the  use  of  the  Inf.  would 
be  pleonastic.  In  view  of  these  considerations,  there  seems  hardly  to  be  anv  other  way  than  to  follow  Ka- 
lisch,  Glaiie,  and  Ewald  (Omm.  g  217  6,  g  2S5  di,  and  render:  "It  is  too  much  that  mere  sh.  uld  be."  Literally, 
"much  from  being,"  or,  this  being  the  Hebrew  method  of  exprebsing  a  comparison,  "more  than  being."  Hut  our 
idiom  frequently  requires  "  more  than "  to  be  rendered  by  "too  much  for."  E.  g.  Ruth  i.  12,  VJ^vh  HITID  TlJpT,  "I 
am  old  from  belonging  to  a  husband,"  i.  e.  "  older  than  to  belong  to,"  or  rather,  "  too  old  to  belong  "to."  So  here;  "it  is 
much  from  [moie  than]  there  being  thunder,"  etc.  That  is,  "  It  is  too  much  that  there  be."  A  sUll  more  apposite  case  is 
to  bo  found  in  1  Kings  lii.  28,  pSOTT  nnj?0  037  y\  "it  is  much  to  you  from  going  up  to  Jerosalem,"  i.  e.  (as 
Luther,  A.  v.,  and  Keil  render  iti,  "it  is  too  much  for  you  to  go  up."  A  still  more  indisputable  analogy  is  found  in  Is. 
xli.i.  0,  ^D;'  "l  'ini'na  "^PJ.  "Itislightfromthybeingasen-ant,"!.  «.  "Itistoo  light  a  tirng  that  thou  sbouldest 
be  a  servant."    So  Ezek.  viii.  17.    With  this  construction  we  get  a  clear  and  appropriate  sense  without  forcing  tho  origi- 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  13.  The  Seventh  Plague.  Hail  and  Tliun- 
der-storras.— Rise  up  early  in  the  morning. 
— Even  iu  refei-ence  to  the  forma  of  politeness 
there  seems  to  be  an  intentional  letting  down. 
According  to  viii.  16  [20]  Moses  was  to  avail  him- 
self of  that  time  in  the  morning  when  Pharaoh  was 
going  to  the  Nile.  This  consideration  here  disap- 
pears. The  demand  is  more  imperative;  the 
threat  more  fearful. 

Ver.  14.  This  time  all  the  plagues  are  to  be 
directed,  in  a  concentrated  form,  primarily  to 
the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  to  his  own  personal  inte- 
rests, affecting  first  himself,  then  his  servants, 
then  his  people,  beginning  at  the  top,  and  going 
down.  "  From  the  plural  HlilJO  it  appears  that 
this  threat  relates  not  merely  to  the  seventh 
plague,  the  hail,  but  to  all  the  remaining  ones" 
(Keil).  It  appears  also  that  now  Pharaoh's 
obduracy  is  to  be  regarded  as  quite  determined. 
This  is  still  more  evident  from  the  two  following 
verses  (see  Comm.  on  Pvom.  ix.).  From  this 
time  forward,  therefore,  ensue  Jehovah's  acts 
of  hardening  Pharaoh's  heart  iu  the  narrower 
sense  of  the  term.— That  there  is  none  like 
me. — Comp.  ver.  16.  The  exodus  of  the  Israel- 
ites from  Egypt,  following  the  last  act  of  divine 
judgment  upon  Egypt,  may  be  designated  as 
the  specific  dale  of  the  victory  of  monotheism 
over  the  heathen  gods,  or  of  the  theocratic  faith 
over  the  heathen  religious. 

Ver.  15.  Fornow  I  would  have  stretched 
out  my  hand. — If  Pharaoh's  person  and  sur- 
roundings alone  had  been  in  question,  Jehovah 
would  have  already  destroyed  him  with  the  pes- 
tilence. We  do  not,  %vith  Keil,  render:  If  I  had 
stretched  out  my  hand  . ..  thou  wouldest  have  been 
destroyed;  for  this  %vould  present  a  tautological 
sentence,  obscuring  the  connection  and  funda- 
mental thought.  Jehovah's  declaration  means: 
Thou,  considered  by  thyself  alone,  art  already 
doomed  to  condemnation ;  but  I  establish  thee, 
as  it  were,  anew,  in  order  to  judge  thee  more 
completely  and  to  glorify  my  name  in  thee. 
Vid.  Comm.  on  Rom.  ix.  This  is  the  gift  of 
divine  forbearance  which  the  godless  enjoy  on 
account  of  the  pious. — '"]"'775i!.n  accordingly 
does  not  mean  merely  cause  to  stand;  and  Paul, 
quite  in  accordance  with  the  sense  of  the  text, 
chose  a  stronger  expression,  whereas  the  LXX. 
had  weakened  it,  employing  die-rjpij&ii^.  The 
first  spread  of  the  news  of  Jehovah's  victory  is 
recorded  in  ch.  xv.  14. 

Ver.  17.  A  fine  antithesis,  analogous  to  that 
of  ch.  viii.  17  [21].  The  form  of  the  thought 
likewise  intimates  that  man,  by  the  change  of 
his  disposition,  may  become  diiferent,  and  that 
then  Jehovah  may,  as  it  were,  present  Himself 
to  him  as  a  different  being. — Exalting  thyself. 


— Properly,  setting  thyself  up  as  a  dam,  7VinpIp. 
Israel,  as  the  people  of  the  future,  is  like  a 
stream  whose  current  the  hostile  powers  of  the 
world,  like  dams  and  dykes,  are  checking. 
First,  it  breaks  through  the  power  of  Pharaoh 
with  theocratic  impetuosity  amidst  psalms  of 
triumph.  Something  like  this  was  true  of  the 
Reformation  ;  in  the  highest  sense,  it  was  true 
of  Apostolic  Christianity;  and  it  was  no  mere 
play  of  the  fancy,  when  the  great  Egyptian 
plagues  were  associated  with  the  great  Christian 
martyrdoms. 

Ver.  19.  And  now  send. — Had  Pharaoh 
done  so,  he  would  at  the  last  moment  have  ac- 
knowledged Jehovah's  power.  But  the  word, 
which  he  himself  without  doubt  disregarded, 
served  to  warn  aud  preserve  other  God-learing 
Egyptians. 

Ver.  22.  Stretch  forth  thy  hand  toward 
heaven. — .Still  another  symbolic  form,  and  that 
of  the  finest  appropriateness.  Here  the  out- 
stretched hand  is  more  important  than  the  sym- 
bolic rod,  though  the  latter  serves  for  a  sign 
this  time  also. 

Ver.  2.3.  Sublime  description  of  the  h.ail  and 
thunder-storm,  like  Ps.  xviii.  and  xxix.  ;  Job 
xxxvii.  and  xxxviii.  "Thunder-storms  are  not 
frequent  in  Lower  and  Centr.al  Egypt,  yet  occa- 
sionally occur  between  December  and  April,  and 
in  connection  with  them  hail  sometimes  falls, 
but  seldom  in  considerable  quantity.  Comp. 
Hengstenberg,  Egypt,  etc.,  p.  121  sq."  (Keil.) 
In  Egypt  the  cattle  are  driven  to  the  pastures 
from  January  to  April.  Vid.  Hengstenberg, 
I.  c,  p.  123,  where  he  quotes  from  Niebuhr  and 
others. 

Ver.  25.  12  in  ver.  25,  like  the  preceding 
"balls  of  fire"  (for  lightning),  harmonizes  with 
the  hyperbolic  style  of  the  description. 

Vers.  26,  27.  In  such  a  heavy  storm  the  ex- 
ceptional condition  of  Goshen  must  have  been 
the  more  striking.  Now  even  Pharaoh  has 
recognized  in  the  thunder  the  voice  of  Jehovah. 
The  first  declaration,  that  Jehovah  is  righteous, 
comes,  remarkably  enough,  from  his  mouth. 
His  repentance,  however,  soon  shows  itself  to 
be  a  mere  aitritio,  a  transitory,  slavish  terror. 
The  contritio  is  wanting;  this  was  at  once  seen 
by  Moses.  The  same  is  indicated  in  the  charac- 
teristic utterance  :   I  have  sinued  this  time. 

Vers.  31,  32.  This  specification  gives  a  clue 
to  the  season  of  the  year.  It  was  towards  the 
end  of  January.  Vid.  Hengstenberg.  p.  124, 
and  Keil,  p.  492.  The  barley  was  an  important 
article  of  food  for  men  and  cattle,  although  spelt 
and  wheat  furnished  finer  bread.  The  flax  fur- 
nished the  light  linen  which  the  hot  climate 
made  a  necessity  ;  "according  to  Herodotus  II. 
81,  105,  a  very  important  product  of  Egypt" 
(Keil). 


H.— THE  LOCUSTS. 
Chap.  X.  1-20. 

1  And  Jchovali  said  unto  Closes,  Go  in  unto  Pharaoh ;  for  I  have  hardened  his 
heart  and  the  heart  of  his  servants,  that  I  might  shew  [may  do]  tliese  my  signs 

2  before  him  [in  tlie  midst  of  them] ;  And  that  thou  mayest  tell  in  the  ears  of  thy 
son  and  of  thy  son's  son,  what  things  I  have  wrought  in  Egypt  [what  I  have  done 
with  the  Egyptians]',  and  my  signs  which  I  have  done  among  them ;  that  ye  may 

3  know  how  [may  know]  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  Moses  and  Aaron  came  [went] 
in  unto  Pharaoh,  and  said  unto  him.  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  God  [the  God]  of  the 
Hebrews,  How  long  wilt  thou  refuse  to  humble  thyself  before  me  ?  let  my  people 

4  go,  that  they  may  serve  me.     Else  [For]  if  thou  refuse  to  let  my  people  go",  behold, 

5  to-morrow  will  I  bring  the  [bring]  locusts  into  thy  coast  [borders] :  And  they  shall 
cover  the  face  of  the  earth,  that  [so  that]  one  cannot  [shall  not]  be  able  to  see  the 
earth :  and  they  shall  eat  the  residue  of  that  which  is  escaped,  which  rcmaineth  [is 
left]  unto  you  from  the  hail,  and  shall  eat  every  tree  which  groweth  for  you  out  of 

6  the  field ;  And  they  shall  fill  thy  houses,  and  the  houses  of  all  thy  servants,  and 
the  houses  of  all  the  Egyptians,  which  [as]  neither  thy  fathers,  uur  thy  fathers' 
fathers  have  seen,  since  the  day  that  they  were  upon  the  earth  unto  tliisday.    And 

7  he  turned  himself  [turned],  and  went  out  from  Pharaoh.  And  Pliaianh's  servants 
said  unto  him ;  How  long  shall  this  man  be  a  snare  unto  us?  Li  t  the  nicii  go,  that 
they  may  serve  Jehovah  their  God:  knowest  thou  not  yet  that  Eicypt  is  destroyed? 

8  And  jNIoses  and  Aaron  were  brought  again  [back]  unto  Pharaoh:  and  he  said  unto 
them.  Go,  serve  Jehovah,  your  God:  but  who  are  they  that  shall  go  [are  going]? 

9  And  Moses  said,  We  will  go  with  our  young  and  with  our  old;  wi^^h  our  sons  and  with 
our  daughters,  with  our  flocks  and  with  our  herds  will  we  go  ;  for  we  7mt.d  hold  [we 

10  have]  a  feast  unto  [of]  Jehovah.  And  he  said  unto  them.  Let  [May]  Jehovah  be 
so  with  you,  as  I  will  let  you  go  and  your  little  ones!     Look  to  it  [See]  ;  for  evil  is 

11  before  you.  Not  so:  go  now ,  ye  that  are  men  [ye  men],  and  serve  Jehovah;  for 
that  ye  did  desire  [that  is  what  ye  are  seeking].   And  they  were  driven  outfrom  Pha- 

12  raoh's  presence.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thine  [thy]  hand  over 
the  land  of  Egypt  for  the  locusts,  that  they  may  come  up  upon  the  laud  of  Egypt, 

1.3  and  eat  every  herb  of  the  land,  even  all  that  the  hail  hath  left.  And  Moses 
stretched  forth  his  rod  over  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  Jehovah  brought  [drove]  aa 
east  wind  upon  the  laud  all  that  day  and  all  that  [the]   night :    and  when  it  was 

14  morning  the  east  wind  brought  the  locusts.  And  the  locusts  went  [came]  up  over 
[upon]  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  rested  in  all  the  coasts  [borders]  of  Egypt;  very 
grievous  were  they:  before  them  there  were  no  such  locusts  as  they,  neither  after 

15  them  shall  be  such.  For  [And]  they  covered  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  [land], 
so  that  [and]  the  land  was  darkened  ;  and  they  did  eat  every  herb  of  the  land,  and 
all  the  fruit  of  the  trees  which  the  hail  had  left:  and  there  remained  not  any  green 
thing  in  the  trees,  or  in  the  herbs  of  the  field,  through  [in]  all  the  land  of  Egypt. 

16  Then  [And]  Pharaoh  called  for  Moses  and  Aaron  in  haste ;  and  he  said,  I  have 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  2.  That  D"1V0  here  meana  "Egyptians,"  and  not  "Egypt,"  is  evident  from  tlie  plural  pronoun  wliicli  fol- 
lows. And  the  whole  phrase  D"1SD3  TlSbi'nn  is  poorly  reproduced  in  the  A.  V.  This  verb  in  the  Hithpacl  is 
aZicay*  followed  by  3  with  the  name  of  a  jierson.  The  meaning  of  it  is,  "  to  do  one's  pleasure  with."  Except  here,  and  1 
Sam.  vi.  6,  tlie  phrase  is  used  in  a  bad  sense,  e.  g^  1  Sam.  xxxi.  4,  "  lest  these  uncircumcised  come  and  thrust  me  throuph, 
and  abuse  me."   Comp.  J.idg,  lix.  25.  Here,  therefore,  the  meaning  is,  "  how  I  did  my  pleasure  with  the  Egyptians."— Te.]. 


17  sinned  against  Jehovah  your  God,  and  against  you.  Now  therefore  [And  now] 
forgive,  I  pray  thee,  my  sin  only  this  once,  and  entreat  Jehovah  your  God  that  he 

18  may  take  away  from  me  this  death  only.     And  he  went  out  from  Pharaoh,  and 

19  entreated  Jehovah.  And  Jehovah  turned  a  mighty  [very]  strong  west  wind,  which 
[and]  tooli  away  the  locusts,  aad  cast  [thrust]  them  into  the  Red  Sea:  there  re- 

20  mained  not  one  locust  in  all  the  coasts  [borders]  of  Egypt.  But  Jehovah  hard- 
ened Pharaoh's  heart,  so  that  he  would  not  [and  he  did  not]  let  the  children  of 
Israel  go. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1.  I  have  hardened  his  heart.— Ac- 
cording to  shallow  rationalistic  views,  this  be- 
trays a  low  state  of  intelligence;  viewed  from 
the  ethical  relations  of  life,  it  indicates  a  very 
high  one.  Pharaoh's  acts  of  self-hardening  pre- 
ceded this  ;  but  after  the  seventh  one,  his  sen- 
tence was  determined;  the  following  plagues, 
therefore,  must  complete  his  obduracy.  Jloses 
must  know  this  beforehand,  in  order  that  he  may 
not  be  discouraged  respecting  his  mission.  But 
that,  under  divine  revelation,  he  can  foreknow 
it,  is  characteristic  of  the  man  who,  being  emi- 
nent in  religious  conscientiousness,  has  a  won- 
derfully profound  insight  into  the  justice  and 
judgments  of  God.  The  general  prediction  of 
ch.  vii.  3-5  is  now  for  the  first  time  completely 
fulfilled  ;  hence  it  is  here  repeated. 

Ver.  2.  That  thou  mayest  tell.—"  How  Is- 
rael related  these  miraculous  signs  to  children 
and  children's  children,  is  shown  in  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
and  cv."  (Keil). 

Ver.  3.  To  humble  thyself. — Jehovahspeaks 
now  in  a  severer  tone.  After  so  many  apparent 
failures,  this  is  a  proof  that  Moses  has  his  con- 
fidence and  his  word  from  God.  Analogous  is 
the  heathen  legend  of  the  Sibyl  who,  for  the 
prophetical  books  twice  reduced  in  number,  kept 
asking  the  same  price. 

Ver.  4.  The  antithesis  is  Bh.arp.  Similar 
forms  in  ix.  17  and  viii.  17  [21].  It  is  not  merely 
the  antithesis  between  a  divine  and  a  human  ac- 
tion; the  almighty  personality  of  Jehovah  con- 
fronts the  defiant  personality  of  Pharaoh.  The 
assurance  with  which  the  locusts  are  predicted 
for  the  morrow  marks  the  miracle,  as  also  after- 
wards the  sudden  removal  of  them  at  Moses'  in- 
tercession. 

Ver.  5.  The  face  [lit.  eye]  of  the  land.— 
"  This  phraseology,  peculiar  to  the  Pentateuch, 
and  occuning  elsewhere  only  ver.  1.5  and  Num. 
xxii.  5,  11,  rests  on  the  ancient  and  genuinely 
poetic  conception,  that  the  earth  with  its  floral 
ornamentation  looks  upon  man  "  (Keil). 

Ver.  6.  Fill  thy  houses.— T«/.  Joel  ii.  9. 
On  locusts  finding  their  way  into  houses,  vid.  the 
quotations  in  Keil. 

Ver.  7.  Pharaoh's  servants.— The  courtiers 
begin  to  tremble.  But  they  are  governed  by  no 
noble  motive  to  intercede  for  Israel,  but  by  the 
fear  that  by  resistance  Egypt  may  go  to  ruin. — 
A  snare.— In  whose  fatal  toils  they  are  be- 
coming entangled  to  their  destruction. 

Ver.  8.  For  the  first  time  Pharaoh  enters  upon 
negotiations  before  the  plague;  yet  without  con- 
sistency.-'Who  are  they?  (lit.  who  and 
who)  'r:i  '0.     Immediately  the  timorous  policy 


of  the  tyrant  withdraws  more  than  half  of  the 
concession. 

V^er.  9.  To  make  a  festival  are  needed  not  only 
he  whole  assembly,  old  and  young,  but  also  the 
cattle  and  possessions  in  general,  on  account  of 
the  offerings.  Pharaoh  suspects  that  freedom 
also  is  involved  in  the  plan.  According  to 
Keil,  the  women,  who  are  seemingly  omitted,  are 
designed  to  be  included  in  the  "  we."  They  are 
also  included  in  the  phrase  "young  and  old." 

Ver.  10.  The  thought,  "Jehovah  be  with  you 
on  your  journey,"  is  transformed  by  Pharaoh 
mockery  :  As  little  as  I  will  let  you  go  with 
your  children,  so  little  shall  ye  go  on  your  jour- 
ney, so  little  shall  Jehovah  be  with  you.  Inas- 
much as  he  has  been  obliged  to  refer  the  pre- 
ceding experiences  to  Jehovah,  his  audacity  here 
passes  over  into  blasphemy. 

Ver.  11.  Go  now,  ye  men. — D'"]3Jn.  The 
expression  forms  an  antithesis  to  the  D'C'^Sn,  in 
the  use  of  which  the  servants  proposed  the  re- 
lease of  the  Israelites  in  general.  But  that  he 
is  not  even  willing  to  let  only  the  men  go  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  messengers  of  God 
were  at  once  driven  out.  The  expression  "  ye 
men,"  "  ye  heroes,"  may  involve  a  scornful  allu- 
sion to  the  power  with  which  they  have  risen 
up  against  him.  Also  in  the  form  SJ  O7  the 
irony  (according  to  Keil)  is  continued. — They 
were  driven  out.— As  we  should  say,  they 
were  turned  out  of  doors.  "  The  restriction  of 
the  right  of  departure  to  the  men  was  pure 
caprice,  inasmuch  as  according  to  Herodotus  II. 
60  the  Egyptians  also  had  religious  festivals  iu 
which  the  women  were  accustomed  to  go  out  with 
the  men"  (Keil). 

Ver.  12.  Stretch  oat  thy  hand. — Accord- 
ing to  ver.  13,  with  the  rod  in  it.  Was  it  in  or- 
der that  they  might  rise  up  like  a  hostile  military 
force?  More  probably  the  idea  is  that  they  are 
to  rise  up  in  the  distance  like  clouds  carried  by 
the  wind.  With  the  wind,  brought  by  it,  locusts 
are  wont  to  come.      Vid.  the  citations  in  Keil. 

Ver  13.  And  Jehovah  drove.— Jehovah 
Himself  is  the  real  performer  of  miracles.  When 
He  seems  in  His  government  to  follow  Jloses' 
suggestion,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  action 
of  Ijoses  is  only  a  symbolical  one  resting  on  pro- 
phetic foresight,  this  all  signifies  that  God's  do- 
minion in  nature  answers  to  God's  dominion  in 
His  kingdom,  therefore,  also,  in  the  mind  of 
Moses.  It  is  a  pre-established  harmony,  in 
which  the  outward  things  of  nature  are  made 
serviceable  to  the  inward  necessities  of  the  spi- 
ritual life.  Vid.  Matt,  xxviii.  18.— An  east 
wind,  D'"!p/nn.  "Not  rarof  (LXX.),  south 
wind,  as  even  Bochart  [Hierozoicon  III.,  p.  287) 


CHAP.  X.  21-29. 


thought.  For  although  the  swarms  of  locusts 
come  to  Egypt  generally  from  Ethiopia  or  Libya, 
yet  they  are  sometimes  brought  by  the  east  wind 
from  Arabia,  as  hag  been  observed,  among  others, 
by  Denon,  quoted  by  Hengstenberg,  Ejypt,  etc., 
p.  1-25  "  (Keil). 

Vers.  Vi-lo.  Further  miraculous  features: 
(a)  that  the  locusts  come  from  so  far  (the 
wind  blew  twenty-four  hours) ;  (6)  that  they 
cover  the  whole  land,  whereas  they  generally 
attack  only  particular  regions.  Among  the  va- 
rious forms  of  the  preludes  of  the  final  judgment, 
(blood,  fire,  war,  pestilence,  darkness),  the 
plagues  of  looust-f  are  also  especially  prominent. 
According  to  Joel,  the  fundamental  significance 
of  them  is  the  incessant  destruction  of  the  flesh 
on  all  sides.* 


•  [This  is  obscure.  It  is  true  that  t 
cnsts  is  ci^3cril)ed  by  Jool  aa  tho  prec 
Jeh()vali  "  (i.  1  > ;  ii.  1);  but  where  or  i 
sents  them  ai  deMrmjing  tke^tl'sh,  it  is  i 
tainly  if  the  lit-^ral  lan'^uag'e  of  J.ipl  i- 
nothingof  the  sort.    Ani  no  mor?  i^ 

structioQ  of  the  flesh.  Lanfi:e  m'<r.- .' 
whether  he  uies  the  word  "  flesh  "  iu  t 
seQse.-Ta.]. 


Vera.  16,  17.  And  Pharaoh  called  in 
haste. — This  is  his  second  confession  of  sin, 
more  distinct  than  the  first,  ix.  27.  For  the  third 
time  he  implores  Moses'  intercession;  viii.  24 
(28),  ix.  28,  and  here.  His  penitence,  however, 
again  exhibits  the  character  of  an  insincere  sub- 
mission, atlrilio;  he  begs  Moses'  forgiveness,  but 
wishes  him  to  intercede  with  God  to  avert  this 
death,  this  deadly  ruin,  which  he  sees  in  the 
plague  of  locusts.  He  condemns  himself,  how- 
ever, for  what  follows,  inasmuch  as  he  asks  for 
exemption  only  this  once. 

Ver.  18.  Moses'  intercession  has  a  twofold  sig- 
nificance: It  is,  first,  an  expression  of  divine 
forbearance:  secondly,  the  attestation  of  the 
miracle  displayed  in  the  plague  of  locusts. 

Ver.  19.  The  east  wind  is  changed  to  a  west 
wind,  or,  more  probably,  to  a  northwest  wind. 
"  That  the  locusts  perish  in  the  sea  is  variously 
attested.  Greyalim  fublatie  venlo  in  maria  nut 
slayna  decidunl,  says  Pliny"  (Keil).  For  Pha- 
raoh the  help  may  have  been  ominous,  as  lie 
himself  afterwards  with  his  host  was  to  perish, 
like  the  locusts,  in  the  Red  Sea. 


I.— THE  DARKNESS. 
Chap.  X.  21-29. 

21  AxD  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Stretch  out  thine  [thv]  hand  toward  heaven, 
that  there  may  be  darkness  over  the  laud   of  Egypt,  even  darkness  \ohich  may  be 

22  felt.      Anil  Moses  stratched  forth  his  hand  toward  heaven;  and  there  was  a  thick 

23  darkness  iu  all  the  land  of  Egypt  three  days.  They  saw  not  one  another, 
neither  rose  any  from  his  place  for  three  days:  but  all  the  children  of  Israel  had 

24  light  iu  their  dwellings.  And  Pharaoh  called  unto  Moses,  and  said,  Go  ye,  serve 
Jehovah;  only  let  your  flocks  and  your  herds  be  stayed  [kept  back];  let  your 

25  little  ones  also  [also  your  little  ones  shall]  go  with  you.  And  Moses  said.  Thou 
must  give  us  also  [Thou  shalt  also   put  into  our  hands]  sacrifices  and   burnt-ofl^r- 

20  ings,  that  we  may  sacrifice  unto  Jehovah  our  God.  Our  cattle  also  shall  go  with 
us;  there  shall  not  an  [a]  hoof  be  left  behind;  for  thereof  [from  them]  must  we 
[shall  we]  take  to  serve  Jehovali  our  God ;  and  we  know  not  with  what  wc  must 

27  serve  Jehovah  until  we  come  thither.     But  Jehovah   hardened   Pharaoh's  heart, 

28  and  he  would  not  let  them  go.  And  Pharaoh  said  unto  him,  Get  thee  from  me, 
tike  heed  to  thyself,  see  my  face  no  more ;  for  in  that  [the]  day  thou  seest  my  face 

29  thou  shalt  die.     And  Moses  said,  Thou  hast  spoken  well ;  I  will  see  thy  face  again 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

Vers.  21-2-3.  The  natural  phenomenon  under- 
lying thi8mi»aculou3  infliction  of  Egyptian  dark- 
ness is  generally  taken  to  be  the  Chamsin,  the 
scorching  hot  south  wind  (in  Italy  the  Sirocco, 
ia  Switzerland  the  Fohn),  "referred  to  appa- 
rently by  tho  LSX.,   where  they  render  "]^'^ 


6,pnr,  nal  die/Ja.  This 
accustomed  to  blow  be- 
equinox,  and  generally 


wind,  which  in  Egyp 
fore  and  after  the  ver 

lasts  two  or  three  days,  usually  rises  very  sud" 
denly  and  fills  the  air  with  such  a  mass  of  fine 
dust  and  coarser  sand,  that  the  sun  ceases  to 
shine,  the  sky  is  covered  with  a  thick  veil,  and 
the  obscuration  becomes  so  nocturnal  that  the 
darkness  of  the  thickest  fog  of  our  late  autumn 


or  -winter  days  is  not  to  be  compared  witli  it  (vid. 
Schubert's  Reise,  U.,  p.  409)."  (Keil).  See  fur- 
ther citations  in  Keil.  Hengstenberg  interprets 
the  darkness  in  Egypt  as  the  image  of  the  divine 
anger,  the  light  in  Goshen  as  image  of  the  divine 
grace.  But  the  preceding  plagues  also  were  at 
least  signs  of  the  divine  anger.  The  judgment 
of  darkness  doubtless  expresses  more  specifically 
the  fact,  that  the  wisdom  of  Egypt  has  become 
transformed  into  a  spiritual  night,  in  which  the 
night  of  death  soon  to  follow  is  pre-announced, 
whereas  the  light  in  Goshen  in  contrast  with  it 
may  signify  the  dawn  of  a  higher  wisdom  wliich 
finally  brings  freedom.  The  miraculousness  of 
it  consisted,  first,  in  its  following  the  symbolic 
action  and  prediction  of  Moses  :  secondly,  in 
its  intensity  and  the  exceptional  condition  of 
Goshen. — In  their  dwellings. — Keil  correctly 
refers  this,  in  opposition  to  Kurtz,  to  the  coun- 
try ;  whereas  the  latter  understands  that  the 
Egyptians  were  even  unable  to  illumine  their 
houses.  But  one  might  as  readily  infer  that 
the  Israelites  obtained  light  only  by  artificial 
means. — Darkness  which  may  be  felt. — 
Beautiful  hyperbolic  expression;  yet  the  dust 
brought  by  the  tornado  could  indeed  be  felt  by 
the  hand. 

Ver.  24.  Pharaoh,  frightened,  makes  a  new 
concession,  but  again  with  a  shrewd  reservation. 
The  concession  consists,  strictly  speaking,  of  two 
parts,  and  the  reservation  is  very  furtively  in- 
serted between  the  two. — Go  ye,  he  says  at  first. 


I  this  time  not  only  the  strong  men  ;  and  at  last, 
j  as  if  with  the  intention  of  entrapping  Moses  by 
the  excitement  of  his  emotion.-):  Also  your 
little  ones  shall  go  with  you. — Nevertheless 
all  their  cattle  were  to  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
I  Egyptians  as  a  pledge  of  their  return.  "JS.% 
sistatur,  be  stopped,  kept  in  certain  places  under 
the  charge  of  the  Egyptians  as  a  pledge  of  your 
return  "  (Keil). 

Ver.  25.  Moses  invalidates  Pharaoh's  demand 
by  reference  to  the  religious  duty  of  his  people. 
They  must  make  an  offering,  must  therefore  have 
their  cattle  with  tbem.  But,  together  with  the 
claims  of  religious  feeling,  those  of  justice  are 
also  insisted  on,  in  the  utterance  which  has  even 
become  parabolical:  "  There  shall  not  a  hoof  be 
left  behind."  This  bold  utterance,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  softened  by  the  declaration  that  they 
did  not  know  what  offerings  fand  how  many) 
they  would  have  to  bring  to  Jehovah. 

Ver.  28.  The  negotiation  becomes  more  and 
more  unequivocal.  The  one  intention  has  strug- 
gled with  the  other  in  carefully  chosen  terms  up 
to  the  point  of  decision.  The  tyrant's  defiance 
now  flames  up,  and  Moses,  with  a  calm  conscious- 
ness of  superiority,  tinged  with  irony,  assents  to 
the  decree  that  he  shall  not  again,  on  penally  of 
death,  appear  before  Pharaoh.  It  is  an  indirect 
announcement  of  the  last  plague.  But  its  first 
consequence  will  be  that  Pharaoh  must  take  back 
his  threat,  xii.  31. 


THIRD    SECTION. 


Announcement  of  the  last  or  tenth  plague,  the  immediate  miraculous  interposition 
of  God.  The  commands  respecting  the  indemnification  of  the  Israelites,  and 
the  PaLsover,  as  the  festival  preliminary  to  their  deliverance.  The  midnight 
of  terror  and  of  the  festival  of  deliverance.  The  release  and  the  exodus.  The 
legal  consequences  of  the  liberation  :  the  Passover,  the  consecration  of  tho 
first-born,  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.    Ch.\ps.  XI.  1— XIII.  16. 

A.— AXNOUNCEMENT  OF  THE  LAST  PLAGUE. 
Chapter  XI.  1-10. 

1  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Yet  will  I  bring  one""  plague  more  [One  more 
plague  will  I  bring]  upon  Pharaoh  and  upon  Egypt ;  afterwards  he  will  let  you  go 
hence:  when  he  shall  let  you  go,  he  shall  [will]  surely  thrust  you  out  hence  alto- 

2  gether.  Speak  now  in  the  ears  of  the  people,  and  let  every  man  borrow  [ask]  of 
his  neighbor,  and  every  woman  of  her  neighbor,  jewels   [articles]  of  silver,  and 

3  jewels  [articles]  of  gold.  And  Jehovah  gave  the  people  favor  in  the  sight  of  the 
Egyptians.     Moreover   the   man   Moses   ivcis   very  great  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 

4  in  the  sight  of  Pharaoh's  servants,  and  in  the  sight  of  the  people.  And  Moses 
said,  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  About  [At]  midnight  will  I  go  out  into  the  midst  of 

5  Egypt:  And  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  die,  from  the  first-born 
of  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  u^^on  his  throne,  even   [throne],  unto  the  first-born  of  the 

6  maid-servant  that  is  behind  the  mill;  and  all  the  first-born  of  beasts.  And  there 
shall  be  a  great  cry  throughout  [in]  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  such  as  there  was  none 
like  it  [the  like  of  which  hath  not  been],  nor  shall  be  like  it  [nor  shall  be]  any 


CIIAP.  XI.  1-10. 


7  more.  But  against  any  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  not  a  dog  move  [sharpen] 
his  tontrue,  against  man  or  beast ;  that  ye  may  know  how  [know]   that  Jehovah 

8  doth  put  a  difference  [doth  distinguish]  between  the  Egyptians  and  Israel.  And 
all  these  thy  servants  shall  come  down  unto  me,  and  bow  down  themselves  [bow 
down]  unto  me,  saying.  Get  thee  out,  and  all  the  people  that  follow  thee  :  and  after 
that  I  will  go  out."  And  he  went  out  from  Pharaoh   in  a  great  [burning]   anger. 

9  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Pharaoh  shall  [will]  not  hearken   unto  you  ;  that 
10  my  wonders  may  be  multiplied  in  the  land  of  Egypt.     And  Moses  and  Aaron  did 

all  these  wonders  before  Pharaoh  ;  and  Jehovah  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart,  so  that 
he  would  not  [and  he  did  not]  let  the  children  of  Israel  go  out  of  his  land. 


Ver. 


EXEGETICAL    AND    CRITICAL. 

And   Jehovah  said. — According  to 


Keil,  JelioTah's  address  to  Moses  here  reported 
was  made  before  the  interview  with  Pharaoh  re- 
corded in  X.  24-29,  but  is  given  here  by  the  nar- 
rator because  it  explains  Moses'  confident  answer 
in  X.  29.  But  we  cannot  suppose  that  Mosea 
would  have  preiinnounced  the  tenth  plague  be- 
fore Pharaoh's  obduracy  in  reference  to  the  ninth 
had  showed  itself.  Also,  it  is  clear  from  ver.  8 
that  the  announcement  made  in  vers.  4-8  imme- 
diately follows  Moses'  declaration  in  x.  29.  The 
difference  between  this  announcement  and  the 
former  ones  consists  in  the  fact  that  this  last  one 
is  made  immediately  after  Pharaoh's  obdurate 
answer.  By  a  sort  of  attraction  other  particu- 
lars are  added  to  this  centr.al  part  of  the  section  : 
Vers.  9  and  10  as  a  recollection  which  the  theo- 
cratic spirit  loves  to  repeat.  Vers.  1-3,  how- 
ever, are  put  before  vers.  4-8,  evidently  from 
pragmatic  considerations;  in  historical  order 
they  form  the  immediate  consequence  of  what  is 
there  related.  Only  the  matter  of  the  silver  and 
gold  articles  seems  to  have  been  often  talked  of: 
the  idea  is  iulvance  1  as  early  as  iii.  21. 

Ver.  8.  That  follow  thee.— Here  for  the 
first  time  tho  ihouilit  appears,  that  the  people 
are  to  form  a  military  host. — In  a  burning  i 
anger. — Patience  is  exhausted,  and  the  prophet's  ' 
anger  breaking  forth  is  a  foretoken  of  judgment. 

Vers.  9,  10.  What  Jehovah  has  predicted  (iv. 
21;  vii.  3)  has  thus  far  all  been  fulfilled.  The 
pause  before  the  last  thunder-bolt  has  inter- 
vened, and  occasions  a  review. 

Vers.  4,  &.  At  midnight.— The  day  is  not 
fixed,  only  the  dreadful  hour  of  the  night.  Keil 
correctly  observes,  in  opposition  to  Baumgarlen, 
that  the  institution  of  the  feast  of  the  Passover 
does  not  come  till  after  the  announcement  of  the 
last  plague,  and  in  accordance  with  this  direc- 
tion at  least  nine*  days,  according  toxii.  3,  must 


*  [Probably  a  misprint  for  "  four,"  i.  e.,  the  four  d.iva  intrr- 
vening  between  the  10th  and  the  14th  of  the  month.  Mur- 
phy agreea  with  Banmearten  that  the  niidn'ght  here  spok'-n 
of  is  the  one  following  the  aunonncement  of  the  plagne, 
which,  therefore,  according  to  xii.  6,  29.  muat  have  taken 
place  on  the  14th.  This  of  course  requires  ua  to  assume  that 
the  injunction  of  xii.  1-3  preceded  this 
itself  considered,  however,  there  is  certainly 
colty  in  this  than  in  the  view  held  by  Keil 
1-3,  vii^  that  chronologically  it  belongs  before  i.  24-29.— la.]. 


have  preceded  the  Passover.  Also  the  indefi- 
nitely protracted  expectation  of  the  stroke  must 
have  heightened  the  fear  in  Egypt,  and  made  the 
stroke  the  more  effectual.  At  midnight  will  I 
go  out. — The  servant  with  his  symbolic  action 
retires;  Jehovah  will  Himself  step  forth  from 
His  hidden  throne,  and  mircli  through  the  whole 
of  hostile  Egypt  injudicial  majesty.  The  judg- 
ment will  be  so  severe  that  even  Moses  with  hia 
rod  must  reverently  retire,  all  the  more,  as  ia 
this  last  scene  there  is  to  bo  made  manifest  on 
Israel's  part  also  a  relative  complicity  in  guilt, 
which  can  be  expiated  only  by  the  blood  of  the 
paschal  lamb.  Moses  must  here  retire  on  ac- 
count also  of  the  infliction  of  death  on  the  first- 
born children  of  Egypt.— The  maid  servant 
that  is  behind  the  mill.— From  the  king's 
son  down  to  the  lowest  female  slave.  A  still 
stronger  expression  is  used  for  the  latter  extreme 
in  xii.  29.*— All  the  first-born.— The  first- 
born are  the  natural  heads,  representatives, 
priests,  and  chief  sufferers,  of  families  ;  and  to 
the  first-born  as  priests  correspond  the  first-bora 
of  beasts  as  offerings  {vid.  xiii.  2).  Here,  it  ia 
true,  the  offering  spoken  of  is  the  curse-offering, 
D^n.  According  to  Keil,  the  beasts  also  are 
mentioned  because  Pharaoh  was  going  to  keep 
back  the  men  and  the  cattle  of  the  Israelites. 
But  this  judgment  goes  so  deep  that  the  first- 
born Israelitish  children  must  likewise  be  atoned 
for;  therefore  also  faultless  lambs  must  be  of- 
fered. The  first-born  among  lambs  cannot  have 
been  meant. 

Ver.  7.  Not  a  dog  sharpen  his  tongue. — 
A  proverbial  expression,  signifying  that  not  the 
sliglitest  trouble  could  be  experienced.  Hence, 
too,  not  even  the  cattle  of  the  Jews  were  to  suf- 
fer the  least  disturbance  {vid.  Judith  xi.  19). 
The  proverbial  expression  may  seem  strange  in 
this  connection  ;  but  the  thought  readily  occurs, 
that  the  Egyptians,  in  this  great  calamiiy  which 
they  had  to  experience  on  account  of  the  Israel- 
ites, might  come  against  them  with  revengeful 
purpose.  But  even  this  will  so  little  be  the  case 
that  rather  all  of  Pharaoh's  servants  will  fall  at 
Moses'  feet  and  beg  him  to  go  out  together  with 
his  people. 


^  [Where  prisoners  are  substituted  for  griodera.  But,  a 
■it  remarks,  according  to  Judg.  xvi.  21 ;  Isa.  xlvii.  2,  i 
3  not  unconimoa  to  Employ  prisoners  as  grinders. — Ta.]. 


B.— THE  DIVINE  ORDINANCE  OF  THE  PASSOVER. 
Chaptek  XII.  1-20. 

1,  2  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  saying,  This 
month  shall  be  unto  you  the  begiuuing  of  months;  it  shall  be  the  first  mouth  of  the 

3  year  to  you.  Speak  ye  unto  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  saying,  In  [On]  the 
tenth  day  of  this  month  they  shall  take  to  thera   every  man  a  lamb,  according  to 

4  the  house  of  their  fathers  [according  to  households],  a  lamb  for  a  house :  And  if 
the  household  be  too  little  for  the  [a]  lamb,  let  him  and  his  neighbor  next  unto 
his  house  take  it  according  to  the  number  of  the  souls ;  every  man  according  to  his 

5  eating,  shall  [shall  ye]  make  your  count  for  the  lamb.  Your  Jamb  shall  be  [ye 
shall  have  a  lamb]  without  blemish,  a  male  of  the  first  year  [one  year  old]  :  ye  shall 

6  take  it  out  [take  it]  from  the  sheep,  or  from  the  goats.  And  ye  shall  keep  it  up 
[keep  it]  until  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  same  [this]  month :  and  the  whole  assera- 

7  bly  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall  kill  it  in  the  evening.  And  they  shall  take 
of  the  blood,  and  strike  [put]  it  on  the  two  side-posts  and  on  the  upper  door-post 

8  [the  lintel]  of  the  houses  wherein  they  shall  eat  it.  And  they  shall  eat  the  flesh 
in  that  night  roast  [roasted]  with  fire,  and  unleavened  bread ;  arid  [bread] :  with 

9  bitter  herbs  they  shall  eat  it.  Eat  not  [nothing]  of  it  raw,  nor  sodden  at  all 
[boiled]  with  water,  but  roast  [roasted]  ivith  fire;  his  [its]  head  with  his  [its]  legs, 

10  and  with  the  purtenance  [inwards]  thereof.  And  ye  shall  let  nothing  of  it  remain 
until  the  morning ;  and  that  which  remaineth  of  it  until  the  morning  ye  shall  burn 

11  with  fire.  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it :  with  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your 
feet,  and  your  staflT  in  your  hand  ;  and  ye  .shall  eat  it  in  haste' :  it  is  the  Lord's 

12  passover  [a  passover  unto  Jehovah].  For  [And]  I  will  pass  through  the  land  of 
Egypt  this  night,  and  will  smite  all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  man 
and  beast ;  and  against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  I  will  execute  judgment :     I  am  Je- 

13  hovah.  And  the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token  [sign]  upon  the  houses  where 
ye  are:  and  when  I  see  the  blood,  I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the  plague  shall  not  be 
upon  you  to  destroy  you  [there  shall  be  no  destroying  plague  upon  you],  when  I 

14  smite  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  this  day  shall  be  unto  you  for  a  memorial ;  and  ye 
shall  keep  [celebrate]  it  a  feast  to  Jehovah  ;  throughout  your  generations  ye  shall 
keep  it  a  feast  by  an  ordinance  forever   [celebrate  it  as  a  perpetual  ordinance]. 

15  Seven  days  shall  ye  eat  unleavened  bread  ;  even  [yea,  on]  the  first  day  ye  shall 
put  away  leaven  out  of  your  houses ;  for  whosoever  eateth  leavened  bread  from  the 

16  first  day  until  the  seventh  day,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  ofl'from  Israel.  And  in  the 
first  day  there  shall  be  a  holy  convocation,  and  in  the  seventh  day  there  shall  be  a 
holy  convocation  to  you  [on  the  first  day  ye  shall  have  a  holy  convocation,  and  on 
the  seventh  day  a  holy  convocation]  ;  no  manner  of  work  [no  work]  shall  be  done 
in  them ;  save  [only]  that  which  every  man  must  eat  [is  eaten  by  every  man],  that 

17  only  may  be  done  of  you.  And  ye  shall  observe  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread; 
for  in  [on]  this  self-same  day  have  I  brought  your  armies  [hosts]  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt ;  therefore  shall  ye  [and  ye  shall]  observe  this  day  in  [throughout]  your 

TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Vcr.  11.  J'll2n2.  Lange  translates:  in  Fluclit-bereilschafl,  "  in  readiness  for  flight,"  condemning  Do  Wette's  render 
ing,  EilftTlirilicit,  "  haste,"  "  precipitation."  But  in  the  only  other  two  passages  where  the  word  occnrs,  Linge's  transla- 
tion is  hardly  admissible.  Dout.  xvi.  3,  "  Thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  in  haste,  JiianS-"  It  could  not  he 
said,  "  Thou  earnest  forth  in  readiness  for  flight."  So  Isa.  lii.  12,  "  Te  shall  not  go  out  with  baste  (;ii£3n3),  nor  go  by 
flight."  Here  the  word  also  denotes  anxious  haste.  The  Torb  t£)n  likewise  everywhere  conveys  the  notion  of  hurried- 
neaa,  or  anxiety  conneeted  with  haste. — Te.]. 


CHAP.  XII.  1-20. 


18  geueratioos  by  [as]  an  ordinance  forever.  In  the  first  month,  on  the  fourtecntli  day 
of  the  mouth  at  even,  ye  shall  eat  unleavened  bread,  until  the  one  and  twentieth 

19  day  of  the  mouth  at  even.  Seven  days  shall  there  be  no  leaveu  found  in  your 
houses  :  for  whosoever  eateth  that  which  is  leavened,  even  [leavened],  that  soul 
shall  be  cut  ofl"  from  the  congregatiou  of  Israel,  whether  he  be  a  stranger  [sojourner] 

20  or  born  in  the  laud.  Ye  shall  eat  nothing  leavened;  in  all  your  habitations  shall 
ye  eat  unleavened  bread. 


EXEGETICAL   AXD   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  1  sqq.  Institutioa  of  the  Passover. 
Cliristendoai  reckons  its  years  according  to  the 
salvation  in  Christ,  so  the  Israelites  were  to 
reckon  the  months  of  the  year  from  the  first 
month  of  their  redemption.  The  first  month, 
in  which  the  redemption  took  place,  Abib  (month 
of  green  ears)  or  Kisan,  was  to  become  the  first 
month  of  their  year.  Hereby  likewise  the  feast 
of  the  Passover  was  to  be  made  the  foundation 
of  all  the  Jewish  feasts,  and  the  Passover  sacri- 
fice the  foundation  of  all  the  various  kinds  of 
cflfering.  The  feast,  however,  becomes  a  double 
one.  The  Passover,  as  the  feast  of  redemption, 
lasts,  together  with  the  day  of  preparation,  only 
on«  night;  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  (including 
the  Passover)  seven  days.  Since  the  feast  of 
the  great  day  of  atonement  also  coalesces  with 
the  feast  of  tabernacles  which  follows  close  upon 
it,  it  would  seem  that  the  feast  of  Pentecost  also, 
aa  the  feast  of  ingathering,  requires  to  be  cou- 
pled with  something.  The  institution  of  the 
feast  of  the  Passover,  connected  with  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  destruction  of  the  first-born 
of  Egypt,  is  narrated  in  vers.  1-11;  in  15-l!0 
the  institution  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  broad. 
The  two  feasts,  however,  are  so  thoroughly 
blended  into  one,  that  the  whole  feast  may 
be  called  either  the  Passover,  or  the  feast 
of  unleavened  bread.  The  festival  as  a  whole 
signifies  separation  from  the  corruption  of 
Egypt,  this  being  a  symbol  of  the  corruption 
of  the  world.  The  foundation  of  the  whole  con- 
sists in  the  divine  act  of  redemption  celebrated 
by  the  Passover.  The  result  consists  in  the  act 
of  the  Israelites,  the  removal  of  the  leaven, 
which  denotes  community  wi.h  Egyptian  princi- 
ples {ViJ.  Comm.  on  Matthew,  pp.  ^15,  289). 
We  have  here,  therefore,  a  typical  purification 
based  on  a  typical  redemption. 

Vers.  1,2.  In  the  land  of  Egypt. — It  is  a 
mark  of  the  dominion  of  Jehovah  in  the  mid^t 
of  His  enemies,  that  He  established  the  Jewish 
community  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  also  tin- 
Christian  community  in  the  midst  of  Judaism, 
and  the  Evangelical  community  under  the  domi- 
nion of  the  Papacy.  To  the  triumphant  assu- 
rance in  regard  to  the  place  corresponds  the 
triumphant  assurance  in  regard  to  the  time: 
the  Passover,  as  a  typical  festival  of  redemption, 
was  celebrated  before  the  typical  redemption 
itself;  the  Lord's  Supper  before  the  real  redemp- 
tion ;  and  in  the  constant  repetition  of  its  cele- 
bration it  points  forward  to  the  final  redemption 
which  is  to  take  place  when  the  Lord  comes. 
Keil  calls  attention  to  this  legislation  in  the  land 
of  Egypt,  as  the  first,  in  distinction  from  the 
legislation  on  Mt.  Sinai  and  the  fields  of  Moab. 


— The  beginning  of  months. — It  does  not 
definitely  loiiow  from  this  ordinance  that  the 
Jews  before  had  a  different  beginning  of  the 
year;  but  this  is  probable,  inasmuch  as  the 
Egyptians  had  a  different  one.  I'iJ.  Keil,  Vol. 
11.,  p.  10.  Nisan  nearly  corresponds  to  our 
April. 

Ver.  3.  Unto  all  the  congregation  of 
Israel. — As  heretofore,  through  the  ciders. — 
A  lamb. — .A  lamb  or  kid. — According  to 
households. — The  companies  were  not  to  be 
formed  arbitrarily,  but  were  to  be  formed  ac- 
cording to  families.  Vid.  ver.  21. — On  the 
tenth  day  of  this  month. —  Vid.  ver.  (J. 

Ver.  4.  Of  course  more  than  two  families 
might  unite,  if  some  of  them  were  childless. 
Also  perhaps  the  gaps  in  smaller  families  might 
be  filled  by  members  from  excessively  large 
ones.  Later  tradition  fixed  upon  ten  as  the  nor- 
mal number  of  participants. 

Ver.  5.  Quality  of  the  lamb:  without  blemish, 
male,  one  year  old.  For  divergent  opinions, 
see  Keil,  Vol.  II.,  p.  11.*  That  the  lamb,  as 
free  from  blemish,  was  designed  to  represent 
the  moral  integrity  of  the  offerer  (Keil),  is  a 
very  doubtful  proposition,  since  moral  integrity 
needs  no  expiatory  blood;  it  might,  with  more 
propriety,  be  taken  to  represent  theocratic  in- 
tegrity. Also  the  requirement  that  the  lamb  be 
a  male  can  hardly  [as  Keil  assumes]  have  ex- 
clusive reference  to  the  first-born  sons  [for 
m  the  lambs  were  substituted].  The  re- 
quirement of  one  year  as  the  age  probably  is 
connected  with  the  necessity  that  the  lamb  be 
weaned;  furthermore,  it  was  for  a  me.il  which 
was  to  suffice  for  an  ordinary  family.  The  first- 
born of  beasts  which  were  sacrificed  on  other 
occasions  than  at  the   Passover  needed  only   to 


[The  age  of  the  lamb  i 
phrase  :  "  Bon  of  a  year."  T 
tbac  this  means  a  year  olti  < 
been  applied  to  lambs  from  t 
one  year.     Apparently  our  I 


ew  by  the 


month f"  Why  not  "eight  days"  as  well?  Why  not  o 
day,  or  one  second,  from  the  time  of  birth?  Isaac,  we  a 
told  in  Gen.  xxi.  4,  was  circumcised  when  he  was  tlie  "s 
of  eiglit  Javs."     Hjw  old  wi«  he?     In  Lev.  ixvii.  6  ■ 


year  '  may  l>3  as  youn^  us  eight  days,  and  the  "son  of  a 
month  "  may  be  twenty-nine  days  old,  what  is  the  use  of  the 
phrase  "son  of  a  month"  at  all?  Or  what  is  the  sense  of 
using  the  latter  phrase  as  the  early  limit?  Why  not  say 
simply :  "  If  it  be  the  son  of  five  years?"  which,  according 
to  the  Rabbinical  interpretation,  ought  to  cover  the  whole 
period.— Te.] 


he  eight  days  old.  As  the  lamh  was  of  more 
yalue  than  the  kid,  it  is  natural  that  for  this 
occasion  it  became  more  and  more  predomi- 
nantly used. 

Ver.  G.  Ye  shall  keep  it.— Does  this  mean 
simply:  ye  shall  Iteep  it  in  store?  Probably  it 
is  intimated  that  the  lamb  was  designed  either 
to  represent  the  persons,  or  to  be  held  in  custody 
for  them.  Why  did  this  keeping  of  the  animal 
last  from  the  lOlh  to  the  Ulh  of  Nisan  f  "  Which 
regulation,  however,  Jonathan  and  Rasohi  re- 
garded as  applicable  only  to  the  passover  slain 
in  Egypt"  (Keil).  According  to  Hofmann,  the 
four  days  refer  to  the  four  generations  spent  by 
the  Israelites  in  Egypt.  In  that  case  the  whole 
analogy  would  lie  in  the  number  four.  If  tlie 
10th  day  of  Nisan  was  near  the  day  of  the  com- 
mand, and  Moses  foresaw  that  the  last  plague 
would  not  come  till  after  four  days,  it  was  natu- 
ral for  him  not  to  leave  so  important  a  prepara- 
tion to  the  last  day;  the  four  days,  moreover, 
were  by  the  ordinance  itself  devoted  entirely  to 
wholesome  suspense  and  preparation;  in  ano- 
ther form  Fagius  refers  to  this  when  he  says:  "  ut 
occasionem  habncnt  inter  se  coUoqucnrIi  el  cHspu- 
tandi,"  etc.  Vid.  Keil. — The  whole  assem- 
bly of  the  congregation  of  Israel.— Although 
every  head  of  a  family  killed  his  lamb,  yet  the 
individual  acts  were  a  common  act  of  the  people 
in  the  view  of  the  author  of  the  rite.  Israel 
was  the  household  enlarged ;  the  separate  house- 
hold was  the  community  in  miniature.  Hence 
later  the  lambs  were  slain  in  the  court. — In 
the  evening  (literally  "  between  the  two  eve- 
nings"). This  regulation,  which  distinguishes 
two  evenings  in  one  day,  is  explained  in  three 
ways:  (1)  between  sunsetand  dark  (Aben-Ezra, 
the  Karaites  and  Samaritans,  Keil  and  others) ; 
(2)  just  before  and  just  after  sunset  (Kimchi, 
Kaschi,  llitzig) ;  (3)  between  the  decline  of  the 
day  and  sunset  (Josephus,  the  Mishna,  and  the 
practice  of  the  Jews).  Without  doubt  this  is 
the  correct  explanation ;  in  favor  of  it  may  be  ad- 
duced xvi.  12;  Deat.  xvi.  6;  Johuxiii.  2.  Accord- 
ing to  this  passage,  preparation  for  the  Passover 
was  begun  before  the  sun  was  fully  set.  Consi- 
derable time  was  needed  for  the  removal  of  the 
leaven  and  the  killing  of  the  lamb.  According 
to  the  Jewish  conception  of  the  day  as  reckoned 
from  6  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M.,  there  was  in  fact  a 
double  evening:  first,  the  decline  of  the  day  of 
twelve  hours;  secondly,  the  night-time,  begin- 
ning at  6  P.  M.,  which,  according  to  Gen.  i.  5 
and  Matt,  xxviii.  1,  was  always  evening  in  the 
wider  sense — the  evening  of  the  day  of  twenty- 
four  hours — which  preceded  the  morning,  the 
day  in  the  narrower  sense.* 

*  [Ginslimg  in  Alexander's  Kitto's  Cvclopsedia.  Art.  Pass- 
over, has  sliown  that  the  Becond  of  the  three  views  about 
"  the  two  evcninKS  "  was  not  held  by  Kimchi  and  Raschi 
(olhoiwisr  callc^l  .Tarchn,   but   that   they   agreed   with   the 

^,    ,1  II    -- .  r  .1  li-li   f-iiiTii.  nt-it-.r^  in   .idopting  the 


,    Most  moiU-r 
adopt  the  fi(! 


Ver.  7.  Take  of  the  blood.— The  two  door- 
posts, as  well  as  the  lintel  of  the  door,  denote 
the  whole  door;  the  threshold  is  excepted  be- 
cause the  atoning  blood  should  not  be  trodden 
underfoot.  "  The  door,"  says  Keil,  "through 
which  one  goes  into  the  house,  stands  for  the 
house  itself;  as  is  shown  by  the  frequent  ex- 
pression: 'in  thy  gales,'  for  'in  thy  cities,' cti. 
XX.  10,  etc."  It  is  here  assumed  that  every 
house  or  tent  had  a  door  properly  so  called. 
"  Expiation  was  made  for  the  house,  and  it  was 
consecrated  as  an  altar"  (Keil).  This  is  a  con- 
fused conception.  It  was  the  homehold  that  was 
atoned  for;  the  buildina;  did  thus  indeed  be- 
come a  sort  of  sanctuary ;  but  in  what  sense 
was  it  to  be  an  altar?  For  here  all  kinds  of 
offerings  were  united  in  one  central  oifering: 
the  D^n,  or  the  slaughter  of  the  Egyptian  first- 
born ;  the  expiatory  offering,  or  the  blood  sprin- 
kled by  the  hyssop-branch  on  the  door-posia 
(Lev.  xiv.  49;  Num.  xix.  18),  which,  therefore, 
as  such  represent  the  several  parts  of  the  altar ; 
the  thank-offering,  or  the  Passover-meal;  the 
burnt-offering,  or  the  burning  of  the  parts  left 
over.  Because  the  door-posts  themselves  stand 
for  the  altar,  the  smearing  of  them  was  after- 
wards given  up,  and,  instead,  the  lamb  was 
killed  in  the  court;  and  this  change  must  have 
been  made  as  soon  as  there  was  a  court. 

Ver.  8.  On  that  night.— The  one  following 
the  14th  of  Nisan.  Why  only  on  the  same  night? 
Otherwise  it  would  not  have  been  a  festive  meal. 
Why  roasted?  The  fire  (itself  symbolically  sig- 
nificant) concentrates  the  strength  of  the  meat; 
by  boiling  a  part  of  it  passes  into  the  water. 
The  unleavened  bread  has  a  two-fold  significance. 
When  eaten  at  the  Passover,  it  denotes  separa- 
tion from  the  leaven  of  Egypt  (Matt.  xvi.  6,  12; 
2  Cor.  V.  8) ;  as  a  feast  by  itself,  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread,  called  bread  of  afiliction, 
denotes  remembrance  of  the  afliictions  which 
were  connected  with  the  flight  from  Egypt 
(Deut.  xvi.  3).  Thia  is  overlooked,  when  it  is 
inferred  from  ver.  17  that  the  ordinance  of  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread  was  made  at  a  later 
time  (as  Keil  does,  II.,  p.  20).— With  bitter 
herbs. — D'^'^0,  iriKpahc  (LXX.),  lactucse  ogrestes 
(Vulg.),  the  wild  lettuce,  the  endive,  etc.  Vid. 
Keil  11.,  p.  15,  Knobel,  p.  99.  "  According  to 
Russell,"  says  Knobel,  "there  are  endives  in 
Syria  from  the  beginning  of  the  winter  months 
to  the  end  of  March ;  then  comes  lettuce  in 
April  and  May."  According  to  Keil,  "  the  bit- 
ter herbs  are  not  called  accompaniments  of  the 
meal,  but  are  represented  as  the  principal  part 
of  the  meal,   here  and   in  Num.   ix.    11."     For 


still  noo 
xatly,  ■' 


arda  (TOr.  29)  from  mid-day 
g  of  the  evening  sacrifice  " 
^   the   time").    According  to 


■Whatev.i 
originally 


CHAP.  XII.  1-20. 


S;?,  he  says,  does  not  mean  along  with,  together 
with,  but  retains  its  fundamental  meaning,  upon, 
over.  In  this  way  tlie  following  strange  sym- 
bolic meaning  is  deduced:  "The  bitter  herbs 
are  to  call  to  mind  the  bitterness  of  life  ex- 
perienced by  Israel  in  Egypt,  and  this  bitterness 
IS  to  be  overcome  by  the  sweet  flesh  of  the  lamb." 
ir  only  the  bitter  herbs  did  not  taste  pleasant! 
If  only  the  lamb  did  not  form  a  meal  of  thanli- 
offering,  and  in  this  meal  were  not  the  chief 
thing!  May  not  the  lamb,  according  to  the 
usual  custom,  have  lain  upon  a  setting  of  bitter 
herbs?  In  the  passage  before  us  only  the  un- 
leavened bread  is  said  to  be  put  upon  the  bitter 
lierbs.  The  modification  of  the  arrangement  in 
Num.  ix.  11  is  unimportant.  It  is  a  strange 
notion  that  the  bitter  herbs  and  the  sweet  bread 
formed  •'  the  basis  of  the  Passover-meal  "  (Keil). 
In  that  case  the  "sweet"  bread  ought  to  have 
made  the  "  sweet "  flesh  of  the  lamb  superfluous. 
Moreover,  the  opposite  of  sweet  is  not  bitter, 
but  sour.  According  to  Kuobel,  the  bitter  herbs 
correspond  to  the  franliinceuse  which  used  to 
accompany  many  offerings  of  grain,  inasmuch 
as  they  had,  for  the  most  part,  a  pleasant  odor. 
But  frankincense  has  a  special  reference  to 
prayer.  If  the  bitter  herbs  are  to  be  interpreted 
as  symbolic,  we  may  understand  that  they  sup- 
plement the  negative  significance  of  the  unlea- 
vened bread  by  something  positive,  as  being 
health-giving,  vitalizing,  consecratory  herbs. 

Ver.  9.  Its  bead  with  its  legs.  ["  From 
the  head  to  the  thighs,"  is  Lange's  translation.] 
"/.  e.,  as  Raschi  correctly  explains,  whole,  not 
cut  in  pieces,  so  that  the  head  and  legs  are  not 
separated  from  the  animal,  no  bone  of  him  is 
broken  (ver.  4(j),  and  the  inward  parts  together 
with  the  (nobler?)  entrails,  these  of  course  first 
cleansed,  are  roasted  in  and  with  the  body."* 
The  uni!;/  of  the  lamb  was  to  remain  intact ;  on 
which  point  comp.  Biihr,  Si/mbolik  des  Mosaischen 
Culliis  II.,  p.  63-5,  Keil,  and  others.f  The  sym- 
bolic significance  of  the  Iamb  thus  tended  to- 
wards the  notion  of  personality  and  inviolability, 
thai  on  which  rested  also  the  fact  and  continu- 
ance of  the  unity  of  the  family  which  partook  of  it. 

Ver.  10.  Let  nothing  of  it  remain.  "  But 
what  nevertheless  does  remain  till  morning  is  to 
be  burnt  with  tire"  (Keil).  But  was  any  of  it 
allowed  to  remain  till  morning?  Vid.  my  hy- 
pothesis, Life  of  Christ,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  262.]: 

Ver.  II.  And  thus.  The  preparation  for  the 
journey  is  here  at  once  real  and  symbolic.  The 
readiness  to  St  art  is  expressed  by  three  marks:  the 
loins  girded  (tucked  up) ;  the  travelling  shoes  on 
the  feet;  the  walking-stick  in  the  hand.  That  even 
the  0.  T.  ritual  was  no  rigid  ordinance  is  proved 


*  [This  BO 
the  source,  a 
cated :  and  in  tliis  case  I  have  not 


by  the  remarkable  fact  that  at  the  time  of  Christ 
they  ate  the  passover  lying  on  couches. — In 
haste.  ["  In  readiness  for  flight,"  Lange.]  A 
meal  could  hardly  have  been  taken  in  "anxious 
flight  "  I  Keil),  or  in  "anxious  haste"  (Knobel).* 
— It  is  Jehovah's  Passover.  Njt  the  Pass- 
over unto  Jehovah,  as  Keil  takes  it,  referring  to 
XX.  10,  xxxii.  5.  For  the  Passover  designates 
Jehovah's  own  going  through,  going  hy, passing 
over  (sparing),  as  symbolically  represented  and 
appropriated  by  the  P.assover  festival.  The  feast, 
it  is  true,  is  celebrated  to  Jehovah  ;  but  it  cele- 
brates Jehovah's  act,  and  in  the  place  where  the 
rite  is  first  instituted,  it  cannot  appear  as  al- 
ready instituted.!  The  LXX.  say:  -aaxa  iarl 
nvpiu.  TheVulg.  "es<  enim  Phase  {id  est  tran- 
silus)  domini.  On  the  meaning  of  FIDD  vid.  the 
lexicons,  and  Keil  II.,  p.  17.  The  pesach  is  pri- 
marily the  divine  act  of  "passing  over;"  next 
the  lamb  with  the  killing  of  which  this  exemp- 
tion is  connected  ;  finally,  the  whole  eight  days' 
festival,  including  that  of  unleavened  bread 
( Deut.  xvi  1-6),  as,  on  the  other  hand,  the  latter 
feast  also  included  that  of  the  Passover.  That 
this  first  Passover  was  really  a  sacrificial  feast, 
Keil  proves,  in  opposition  to  Ilofmann,  II.,  p.  17. 
Comp.  Hofmann's  Schriftbeweis  II.,  p.  271. J 

Vers.  12,  13.  Explanation  of  the  Passover. 
And  I.  The  counterpart  and  prototype  of  the 
Passover  festival  are  historic  facts.  First,  Jeho- 
vah, as  judge,  passes  through  all  Egypt.  Se- 
condly, He  visits  upon  the  young  life  in  tho 
land  a  plague  whose  miraculousuess  consists 
especially  in  the  fact  that  the  first-born  fall,  tho 


1  takes  n3I  ia  xii.  27  i 


,  the  general  sense  of 
■ifice,  and 


vU.  1, 


?nm.  xxviii.  24,  denote  mcrijlce  in  the  narrow  ceremo- 
iiiae,  and  tliat  the  Passover  in  Num.  i.\.  7  is  called 
offering.    Knobul  likewise  says,  "  Without  doubt  tho 

?r  was  a  sort  of  offeriog."    But  he  contends  that  it 

■  t     I-  l\ii!  and  others  hold)  a  sin-oflFering,  for  the  re,a- 

I    I      t  liie  0.  T.  gives  no  indication  of  such  a  charac- 

;  .  i     tlie  mode  of  observing  the  rite  differed  from 

II-  to  the  sin-oflferinf^,  particularly  in  that  the 


infliction  beginning  with  tiie  house  of  Pharaoh. 
The  result  is  that  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  are  judged 
by  Jehovah.  What  does  that  meau  ?  Keilsays: 
the  gods  of  Egypt  were  spiritual  powers,  daifiovia. 
Pseudo-Jonathan:  idols.  Knobel  compares  Num. 
xxxiii.  4,  and  says:  "We  are  to  think  espe- 
cially of  the  death  of  the  first-born  beasts,  since 
the  Egyptians  worshipped  beasts  as  gods,"  (.')  etc. 
The  esseotial  thing  in  the  subjective  notion  of  gods 
are  the  religious  couceptious  and  traditions  of 
the  heathen,  in  so  far  as  they,  as  real  powers, 
inhere  in  national  ideals  and  sympathies.  Le- 
gends in  point,  vid.  in  Knobel,  p.  luO.  Thirdly, 
Jehovah  spares  the  first-born  of  the  Israelites. — 
The  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  sign.  The 
expression  is  of  psychological  importance,  even 
for  the  notion  of  atonement.  It  does  not  read: 
it  shall  be  to  me  for  a  sign.  The  Israelites  were 
to  have  in  the  blood  the  sacramental  sign  that 
by  the  offering  of  blood  the  guilt  of  Israel  in 
connection  with  Egypt  was  expiated,  in  that 
Jehovah  had  seen  tlie  same  blood.  This  look- 
ing on  the  blood  which  warded  off  the  pestilence 
reminds  us  of  the  looking  up  to  the  brazen  ser- 
pent, and  of  the  believer's  contemplation  of  the 
perfect  atonement  on  the  cross.  Keil  says,  "  In 
the  meal  the  sacrificiiim  becomes  a  sacramentum." 

Ver.  14.  The  solemn  sanction  of  the  Passover. 
— As  an  ordinance  for  ever.  The  institution 
of  the  Passover  continues  still  in  its  completed 
form  in  the  new  institution  of  tlie  Lord's  Supper. 

Ver.  15.  The  solemn  institution  of  the  seven 
days'  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  It  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  Passover;  not  afterwards 
appended  to  it,  for  this  is  not  implied  by  ver.  17. 
(See  above  on  ver.  8).  The  real  motive  was  the 
uniform  removal  of  the  Egyptian  leaven,  a  sym- 
bol of  entire  separation  from  everything  Egyp- 
tian. Hence  the  clearing  away  of  the  leaven 
had  to  be  done  on  the  first  day,  even  before  tlie 
incoming  of  the  15th  of  Nisan,  on  the  evening  of 
the  14lh.  Viil.  ver.  18.  Hence  also  every  one 
who  during  this  time  ate  anything  leavened  was 
to  be  punisbed  with  death.  He  showed  symboli- 
cally that  he  wished  to  side  with  Egypt,  not 
with  Israel.  The  explanation,  "  The  unleavened 
bread  is  the  symbol  of  the  new  life,  cleansed 
from  the  leaven  of  sin,"  (Keil),  is  founded  on  I 
the  fundamentally  false  assumption,  revived  I 
again    especially    by   Hengsteuberg,    that    the  | 


leaven  is  in  itself  a  symbol  of  the  sinful  life.  If 
this  were  the  case,  the  Israelites  would  have 
had  to  eat  unleavened  bread  all  the  time,  and 
certainly  would  not  have  been  commanded  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  to  put  leavened  bread  on 
the  altar  (Lev.  xxiii.  17).  The  leaven  is  symbol 
only  of  transmission  and  fellowship,  hence,  in 
some  cases,  of  the  old  or  of  the  corrupt  life. 
"  Leaven  of  the  Egyptian  character,"  says  Keil 
himself,  II.,  p.  21. 

Ver.  16.  On  the  first  day.  This  is  the  day 
following  the  holy  night,  the  second  half  of  the 
loth  of  Nisan.  Like  the  seventh  day  it  is  ap- 
pointed a  festival,  but  to  be  observed  less  rigidly 
than  the  Sabbath.  According  to  Lev.  xxiii.  7, 
the  only  employments  forbidden  are  the  regular 
labors  of  one's  vocation  or  service,  and  food  may 
be  prepared  according  to  the  necessities  of  the 
day;  this  was  not  allowed  on  the  Sabbath. 

Ver.  17.  For  on  this  self-same  day.  Strictly 
speaking  then,  the  days  of  unleavened  bread 
began  with  the  beginning  of  the  15lh  of  Nisan, 
and  in  commemoration  of  the  exodus  itself, 
whereas  the  Passover  was  devoted  to  the  com- 
memoration of  the  preceding  dreadful  night  of 
judgment  and  deliverance,  the  real  adoption  or 
birrh  of  God's  people  Israel. 

Ver.  18.  On  the  fourteenth  day  of  the 
month.  This  is  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread 
in  the  wider  sense,  including  the  Passover.  The 
Passover,  according  to  the  -very  idea  of  it,  could 
not  be  celebrated  with  leavened  bread,  i.  e.,  in 
connection  with  anything  Egyptian,  for  it  repre- 
sented a  separation,  in  principle,  from  what  was 
Egyptian. 

'V'er.  19.  Also  the  foreigner,  who  wishes  to 
live  among  the  Israelites,  mustsubmit  to  this  ordi- 
nance, even  though  he  has  continued  to  be  a  fo- 
reigner, i.  e.,  has  not  been  circumcised.  The  one 
born  in  the  land  is  the  Israelite  himself,  so  called 
cither  in  anticipation  of  his  destined  place  of 
settlement,  or  in  the  wider  sense  of  nationality. 
Keil  approves  Leclero's  interpretation :  quia 
oriundi  erant  ez  Isaaco  et  Jacobo,  ["  because  they 
were  to  take  their  origin  from  Isaac  and  Jacob."] 

Ver.  20.  Eat  nothing  leavened.  Again 
and  again  is  this  most  sacred  symbolic  ceremony 
enjoined,  for  it  symbolizes  the  consecration 
of  God's  people,  a  consecration  based  on  their 
redemption. 


C— THE   INSTITUTION  OF   THE  FIRST   PASSOVER.      THE  LAST   PL.A.GUE.      THE   RE- 
LEASE AXD  THE  PREPARATION  FOR  DEPARTURE. 

Chapter  XII.  21-36. 
21       Then  [And]  Mcses  called  for  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  said  unto  them,  Draw 
[Go]  out,'  and  take  you  a  lamb  [take  you  lambs]  according  to  your  families,  and 


1  [Tcr.  21.  "  Draw  out,"  a 
Ciinon  Cook  (in  tho  SpoBker 
nfflrcua  that  IJtyj  never  uit-au 
his  army — a  meuning  which  i 


TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 
I  the  rendering  of  OtJD,  is  acquiesced  in  by  Lange,  De  Wette,  Wordsworth,  Murphy,  and 
I  Commentary),  and  is'  defended  by  Kali^ch  and  Bush. 


"  to  approacli."    lie  assigns  to  it  there  the  met 
rtainly  is  no  where  else  ('herefure  not  "frcque: 


ing  "I 
,lly," 


Eush  says)  to  he  found.    That  ■3i:;rD 


CHAP.  XII.  21-3G.  39 

22  kill  the  passover.  And  ye  shall  [And]  take  a  bunch  of  hyssop,  and  dip  it  in  the 
blood  that  is  in  the  basin,  and  strike  the  lintel  and  the  two  side  posts  [two  posts] 
with  the  blood  that  is  in  the  basin  ;  and  none  of  you  shall  go  out  at  the  door  of  his 

23  house  until  the  morning.  For  [And]  Jehovah  will  pass  through  to  smite  the 
Egyptians ;  and  when  he  seeth  the  blood  upon  the  lintel  and  on  the  two  side  posts 
[two  posts],  Jehovah  will  pass  over  the  door,  and  will  not  suffer  the  destroyer  to 

24  come  in  unto  [come  into]  your  houses  to  smite  you.   And  ye  shall  observe  this  thing 

25  for  [as]  an  ordinance  to  [for]  thee  and  to  [for]  thy  sons  for  ever.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  when  ye  be  [are]  come  to  the  land  which  Jehovah  will  give  you,  ac- 

2')  cording  as  he  hath  promised,  that  ye  shall  keep  this  service.     And  it  sliall  come  to 

27  pass,  when  your  children  shall  say  unto  you,  AVliat  mean  ye  by  this  service?  That 
ye  shall  say,  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  Jehovah's  passover  [the  passover  of  Jehovah],  who 
passed  over  the  houses  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  when  he  smote  the 
Egyptians,  and  delivered  our  houses.     And  the  people  bowed  the  head  [bowed 

28  down]  and  worshipped.     And  the  children  of  Israel  went  away  [went],  and  did 

29  [did  so;]  as  Jehovah  had  commanded  Moses  and*Aaron,  so  did  they.  And  it 
came  to  pass  that  at  midnight  [at  midnight  that]  Jehovah  smote  all  the 
first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sat 
ou   his   throne    unto   the    first-born  of  the   captive   that   ivas   in   the   dungeon  ; 

30  and  all  the  first-born  of  cattle.  And  Pharaoh  rose  up  in  the  night,  he,  and 
all  his  servants,  and  all  the  Egyptians ;    and  there  was  a  great  cry  in  Egypt ; 

31  for  there  was  not  a  house  where  there  was  not  one  dead.  And  he  called  for  Moses 
and  Aaron  by  night,  and  said,  Rise  up,  and  get  you  forth  from  among  my  people, 

32  bath  ye  and  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  go,  serve  Jehovah,  as  ye  have  said.  Also 
take  your  flocks  and  your  herds,  as  ye  have  said,  and  be  gone;  and  bless  me  also. 

33  And  the  Egyptians  were  urgent  upon  the  people,  that  they  might  send  them  out 

34  of  the  land  in  haste ;  for  they  said.  We  be  \_are']  all  dead  men.  And  the  people 
took  their  dough  before  it  was  leavened,  their  kneading  troughs  being  bound  up  in 

35  their  clothes  upon  their  shoulders.  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  according  to  the 
word  of  Moses ;  and  they  borrowed  [asked]  of  the  Egyptians  jewels  [articles]  of 

36  silver,  and  jewels  [articles]  of  gold,  and  raiment.  And  Jehovah  gave  the  people  fa- 
vor in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  [and]  they  lent  unto  tbem  such  things  as 
they  required  [they  gave  unto  them] :  and  they  spoiled  [despoiled]  the  Egyptians. 

i  deny ;  and  indeed  i 


could  be  attaclied  to  tli'- 
of  "pull  out," — a  meanii 
duQgooD,  Jer.  xxxviii.  l:: 
the  lambs  were  not  draw 
the  word  no  where  else  1 
little  doubt  tliat  we  ari> 
Knobel,  and  others,  as  u: 


ith   llio  LXX., 


,  UiseniuB,  i'ii 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

The  narrative  evidently  transports  us  to  the 
lith  (lay  of  Nisan,  the  days  of  preparation  being 
passed  over. 

Ver.  21.  For  this  reason  we  do  not  translate 
Otp/3  intransitively,  "  go  hence,"  etc.  The  pas- 
chal lambs  have  been  for  four  days  in  a  special 
enclosure;  now  they  are  to  be  drawn  out,  seized 
and  slaughtered.  Hence  also  the  injunction  pro- 
ceeds at  once  to  the  further  directions  concern- 
ing the  transaction. 

Vcr.  22.  A  buncb  of  hyssop. — A  handful, 
says  Maimonides.  Hyssop  "designates  proba- 
bly not  the  plant  which  we  call  hyssop,  not  the 
hi/3sopus  officinalis,  it  being  doubtful  whether  this 
is  found  in  Syria  and  Arabia  {viJ.  Kilter,  Erd- 
kunde,  XVII.,  p.  686),  but  a  species  of  the  origa- 
num similar  to  the  hyssop  "  (Keil). — That  is  in 
the  basia — i.  e.,  in  which  the  blood  was  caught. 


None  of  yon  shall  go  out.— They  are  pro- 
tected only  in  the  house,  behind  the  propitiatory 
blood. 
Ver.  23.    The    destroyer  to  come   in.— 

Comp.  the  o?Mi)pcvav  of  Heb.  xi.  28  with  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  16;  Isa.  xxxvii.  36.  So  Keil  and  others, 
whereas  Knobel  and  others  take  n'riDO  as  ab- 
Btra.ct=destruction.  Knobel's  reasons  (p.  105) 
are  easily  refuted ;  e.ff.,  though  Jehovah  Him- 
self goes  through  Egypt,  yet  it  does  not  thenco 
follow  that  He  might  not  make  use  of  an  angel 
of  judgment  in  the  judicial  inflictions  (to  bo  un- 
derstood symbolically,  viii.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  49);  He 
Himself,  however,  distinguishes  between  His  peo- 
ple and  the  Egyptians. 

Vers.  21-26.  The  establishment  of  the  Passover 
festival  is  again  enjoined,  and  at  the  same  time 
there  is  connected  with  it  an  injunction  to  in- 
struct children  concerning  it.  The  Israelitish 
child  will  not  unthinkingly  practice  a  dead  wor- 
ship; he  will  ask:  What  does  it  mean?     And  the 


Israelitish  fathers  must  not  suppress  the  ques- 
tions of  the  growing  mind, but  answer  them,  and 
thus  begin  the  spiritualizing  of  the  paschal  rite. 

Ver.  27.  'Worshipped. — Expression  of  faith, 
allegiance,  joy,  and  gratitude. 

Ver.  2S.  Brief  reference  to  the  festive  meal 
of  faith  in  contrast  with  the  dreadful  judgment 
now  beginning.  At  midnight. — According  to 
Keil,  we  have  no  occasion  here  to  look  for  any 
natural  force  as  underlying  the  punishment,  but 
to  rccnrd  it  as  a  purely  supernatural  operation 
of  divine  omnipotence,  inasmuch  as  here  the 
pestilence  is  not  named,  as  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  15. 
Also  (he  says)  Jehovah  administers  the  last 
plague  without  Moses'  mediation.  But  here  too 
Moses'  prophetic  prediction  has  a  place;  ami 
also  the  teleological  design  of  the  facts.  And 
this  was  the  main  feature  of  all  these  punitive 
miracles,  provided  we  do  not  conceive  Moses' 
rod  as  having  itself  wrought  them.  According 
to  Knohcl,  the  miracle  consisted  iu  the  pestilence 
"which  from  the  oldest  time  to  the  present  day 
has  had  its  chief  seat  in  Egypt."  He  gives  a 
series  of  examples,  p.  10(3.  Also  statements  con- 
cerning the  season  in  which  the  pestilence  is  ac- 
customed to  appear  in  Egypt:  December,  Febru- 
ary, March.  "It  ismost destructive  from  March 
to  May."  "Quite  in  accordance  with  the  fads, 
the  series  of  plagues  ends  with  the  pestilence, 
which  generally  lasts  till  the  Nile  inundation." 
"The  pestilence  spares  many  regions,  e.^.,  the 
deserts  (Pruner,  p.  4rj)."  On  the  de.ath  of  the 
cattle:  "According  to  Ilartmann  [Erdhcschreihunj 
von  Afrika,  I.,  p.  68),  the  dogs  in  Cairo  almost 
constantly  have  the  pestilence;  and  when  it 
rages  among  them,  it  ceases  to  prevail  among 
men."  According  to  Knobel,  the  occurrence 
■was  expanded  by  legendary  tradition  into  a  mi- 
racle. But  miraculous  are:  (1)  The  prediction  of 
the  fact,  its  object,  and  its  results;  (2)  the  sud- 
den spread  of  the  plague  over  the  younger  gene- 
ration, the  first-born,  especially  the  first-born 
of  the  king,  being  singled  out:  (3)  the  fact  that 
both  beasts  and  men  suffered;  (4)  the  liberation 
of  Israel.  That  the  religious  expression  of  this 
great  event  has  its  peculiarity,  that  it  makes  ge- 
neralizations, and  leaves  out  subordinate  fea- 
tures in  accordance  with  its  idealizing  tendency 
and  symbolic  design — on  this  point  one  must 
shape  his  views  by  means  of  a  thorough  herme- 
neutical  apprehension  of  the  religious  style.  Even 
Keil  cannot  quite  adopt  the  assumption  of  Cor- 
nelius a  Lapide,  that  in  many  houses  grandfa- 
thers, fathers,  sons,  and  wives,  in  ease  they  were 
all  first-born,  were  killed.  But  literally  under- 
stood, the  narrative  warrants  this.  But  the  per- 
fect realization  of  the  object  aimed  at  lifts  the 
event  above  the  character  of  a  legend. 


Vers.  30,  31.  The  great  lamentation  which  in 
the  night  of  terror  resounds  through  Egypt  be- 
comes tbe  immediate  motive  for  releasing  Israel. 
And  he  called  for  Moses. — AVe  need  not,  with 
Calvin,  lay  any  stress  on  the  fact  that  Pharaoh, 
s.  28,  had  commanded  the  men  not  to  show  them- 
selves again  to  him,  as  if  a  humiliating  incon- 
sistency of  the  tyrant  with  himself  were  not  cha- 
racteristic, and  as  if  in  the  history  of  despotism 
it  were  not  a  frequent  feature.  This  crushing 
humiliation  Pharaoh  could  not  escape.  Mosea 
and  Aaron  had  to  receive  the  permission  from 
his  own  mouth.  And  we  cannot  call  it  mere 
permission.  He  drives  him  out  by  a  mandate 
which  bpars  unmistakable  marks  of  excitement. 
Serve  Jehovah,  as  ye  have  said. — These 
words  involve  the  promise  of  complete  libera- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  the  intention  to  re- 
quire the  Israelites  to  return.  As  ye  have 
said — he  repeats — and  finally  he  even  begs  for 
tbeii  intercession:  "bless  me  also."  According 
to  Keil,  every  thing,  even  the  request  for  their 
blessing,  looks  to  a  manifest  and  quite  uncondi- 
tional dismissal  and  emancipation.  But  this 
thought  is  expressed  more  positively  in  the  be- 
havior of  the  Egyptians,  who  were  the  most  ter- 
rified." 

Ver.  33.  At  all  events  the  Israelites  had  a 
right  to  understand  the  dismission  as  an  eman- 
cipation, although  formally  this  right  was  not 
complete  until  Pharaoh  hostilely  pursued  them. 
Keil  refers  to  xiv.  4,  5.  The  report  brought  to 
the  king,  that  the  people  had  fled,  seems,  how- 
ever, to  imply  that  in  the  mind  of  the  Egyptians 
there  had  been  no  thought  of  unconditional 
emancipation,  but  only  of  an  unconditional  fur- 
lough. And  when  Pharaoh  was  disposed  vio- 
lently to  take  back  even  this  promise,  that  was  a 
new  instance  of  hardness  of  heart,  the  last  and 
the  fatal  one.  'We  are  all  dead  men :  as  it 
were,  already  dead.  Expression  of  the  greatest 
consternation. 

Ver.  34.  And  the  people  took  their 
dough,  before  it  was  leavened.  That  is  (ac- 
cording to  Keil):  "The  Israelites  intended  to 
leaven  the  dough,  because  the  command  to  cat 
unleavened  bread  for  seven  d.iys  had  not  yet 
been  made  known  to  them."  But  the  text  evi- 
dently means  to  say  just  the  opposite  of  this: 
they  carried,  in  accordance  with  the  command, 
dough  which  was  entirely  free  from  leaven. 
They  had  already  put  enough  for  seven  days 
into  the  baking-pans,  and  carried  these  on  their 
slioulders,  wrapped  up  in  their  outer  garments, 
or  rather  in  wr.apping  cloths,  such  as  might  be 
used  for  mantles  or  wallets. 

Vers.  35,  36.  Vid.  iii.  21  and  Comm.  on  Gene- 
sis, p.  83. 


D.— THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT.     LEGAL  ENACTMENTS  CONSEQUENT  ON  LIBERATION. 
Chapter  XII.  37— XIIL  16. 

37  And  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Eameses  to  Succoth,  about  six  Inin- 

38  dred  thousand  on  foot,  that  were  men  [the  men]  beside  [besides]  children.     Ami  a 
mixed  multitude  went  up  also  with  them ;  and  flocks,  and  herds,  even  very  much 


CHAP.  XII.  37-XIII. 


39  cattle.  And  they  baked  unleavened  cakes  of  tie  dough  which  they  brought  forth 
out  of  Egypt,  for  it  was  not  leavened;  because  they  were  thrust  out  of  Egypt,  and 

40  could  not  tarry,  neither  had  they  prepared  for  themselves  any  victual.  Now  the 
sojouroing  [dwelling,  i.  e.  time  of  dwelling]  of  the  children  of  Israel,  who  dwelt 

41  [which  they  dwelt]  in  Egypt,  teas  four  hundred  and  thirty  years.  And  it  came  to 
pass  at  the  end  of  the  [end  of]  four  hundred  and  thirty  years,  even  [on]  the  self- 
same day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  the  hosts  of  Jehovah  went  out  from  the  laud  of 

42  Egypt.  It  is  a  night  to  be  much  observed  [of  solemnities]  uuto  Jehovah  for  bring- 
ing them  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt:  this  is  that  night  of  Jehovah  to  be  observed 
of  [night  of  solemnities  unto  Jehovah  for]  all  the  children  of  Israel  in  [through- 

4-3  oat]  their  generations.     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses  and  Aaron,   This   k  the 

44_ordinance  of  the  Passover :  There  shalL  no  stranger  [foreigner]   eat  thereof:  But 

every  man's  servant  [every  servant]  that  is  bought  for  money,  when  thou  hast  cir- 

45  cumcised  him,  then  shall  he  eat  thereof     A  foreigner  [stranger]  and  an  [a]  hired 

46  servant  shall  not  eat  thereof.  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten ;  thou  shalt  not  carry 
forth  aught  of  the  flesh  abroad  out  of  the  house ;  neither  shall  ye   break  a  bone 

47,  48  thereof  All  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall  keep  [sacrifice]  it.  And  ^vhen  a 
stranger  [sojourner]  shall  sojourn  with  thee,  and  will  keep  the  [sacrifice  a]  passover 
to  Jehovah,  let  all  bis  males  be  circumcised,  and  then  let  him  come  near  and 
keep  [sacrifice]  it :  and  he  shall  be  as  one  that  is  born  in   the  land :  for  [but]  no 

49  uncircumcised  person  shall  eat  thereof.     One  law  shall  be  to  [shall  there  be  for]  him 

50  that  is  home-born,  and  unto  [for]  the  stranger  that  sojourueth  among  you.  Thus 
did    all  the   children   of  Israel] ;    as  Jehovah    commanded   Moses,  so  did   they. 

51  And  it  came  to  pass  the  selfsame  day,  that  Jehovah  did  bring  the  children  of 
Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  by  their  armies  [according  to  their  hosts]. 

Chap.  XIII.  1,  2  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  IMoses,  saying,  Sanctify  unto  me  all  the 
[every]  first-born,  whatsoever  openeth  the   [any]  womb  among  the  children  of 

3  Israel,  both  of  man  and  of  beast :  it  is  mine.  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people, 
Remember  this  day,  in  which  ye  came  out  from  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  boudage : 
for  by  strength  of  hand  Jehovah  brought  you  out  from  this  place  [thence] :  there 

4  shall  no  leavened  bread  be  eaten.     This  day  came  [come]  yo  out  in  the  month 

5  Abib.  And  it  shall  be,  when  Jehovah  shall  bring  thee  into  the  land  of  the  Ca- 
naanites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Amorites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites, 
which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give  thee,  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 

6  that  thou  shalt  keep  this  service  in  this  month.     Seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  unlea- 

7  vened  bread ;  and  in  the  seventh  day  shall  be  a  feast  to  Jehovah.  Unleavened 
bread  shall  be  eaten  seven  [the  seven]  days ;  and  there  shall  no  leavened  bread  be 
seen  with  thee,  neither  shall  there  be  leaven  seen  with  thee  in   all  thy  quarters 

8  [borders].  And  thou  shalt  show  [tell]  thy  son  in  that  day,  saying.  This  is  done 
[It  is]  because  of  that  which  Jehovah  did  unto  me  when  I  came  forth  out  of  Egypt. 

9  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign  unto  thee  upon  thine  [thy]  hand,  and  for  a  memorial 
between  thine  eyes,  that  Jehovah's  law  may  be  in  thy  mouth :  for  with  a  strong 

10  hand  hath  Jehovah  brought  thee  out  of  Egypt.     Thou  shalt  therefore  [And  thou 

11  shalt]  keep  this  ordinance  in  his  [its]  season  from  year  to  year.  And  it  shall  be, 
when  Jehovah  shall  bring  thee  into  the  laud  of  the  Canaanites,  as  he  sware  unto 

12  thee  and  to  thy  fathers,  and  shall  give  it  thee.  That  thou  shalt  set  apart  unto  Jeho- 
vah all  that  openeth  the  matrix  [womb],  and  every  firstling  that  cometh  [every 
first-born]  of  a  beast  [of  beasts]  which  thou  hast ;  the  males  shall  be  Jehovah's. 

13  And  every  firstling  [first-born]  of  an  ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a  lamb  ;  and  if 
thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  then  thou  shalt  break  his  neck :  and  all  the  first-born  of 

14  man  among  thy  children  shalt  thou  redeem.  And  it  shall  be,  when  thy  son  asketh 
thee  in  time  to  come,  saying.  What  is  this?  that  thou  shalt  say  unto  him.  By 
strength  of  hand  Jehovah  brought  us  out  from  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage: 

15  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  would  hardly  let  us  go,  that  Jehovah  slew  all 
the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  both  the  first-born  of  man  and  the  first-born  of 
beast :  therefore  I  sacrifice  to  Jehovah  all  that  openeth  the  matrix  [womb],  being 

16  [the]  males;  but  all  the  first-born  of  my  children  I  redeem.  And  it  shall  be  for 
a  token  upon  thine  [thy]  hand,  and  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes ;  for  by  strength 
of  hand  Jehovah  brought  us  forth  out  of  Egypt. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

Ver.  ST.  And  the  children  of  Israel  jour- 
neyed.— Oa  the  journey  see  the  Introduction, 
Keil  II.,  p.  2G,  the  literature  above  quoted,  and 
Ecil  II.,  p.  -28,  Note,  Knobel,  p.  Ill  sq.— About 
600,000  on  foot. — "  "Sj'i,  as  in  Num.  xi.  21, 
the  infantry  of  an  army,  is  added,  because  they 
went  out  as  a  warlike  host  (ver.  41),  and  in  the 
number  given  only  the  men  able  to  bear  arms, 
those  over  twenty  years  of  age,  are  reclioned  ; 
D'")3Jn  is  added  because  of  the  following  13/ 
f|t3D:'  'besides  the  little  ones.'  f)D  is  used  here 
in  the  wider  significance  of  the  dependent  part 
of  the  family,  including  wife  and  children,  as  in 
Gen.  xlvii.  12 ;  Num.  xxxii.  Ifi,  24,  and  often, 
those  who  did  not  travel  on  foot,  but  on  beasts 
of  burden  or  in  wagons"  (Keil).  On  the  round 
number,  as  well  as  the  increase  of  Israel  in 
Egypt,  comp.  Knobel,  p.  121,  Keil,  I.  c,  and  the 
Introduction.  On  the  fruitfulness  of  the  land 
of  Goshen,  see  Keil  II.,  p.  29.  Kurtz  and  Ber- 
theau  have  suggested  as  an  explanation  of  the 
great  number,  that  we  may  assume  that  the 
seventy  Israelites  who  emigrated  to  Egypt  had 
several  thousand  men-servants  and  maid-ser- 
vants. Keil  insists  that  only  the  posterity  of 
the  seventy  souls  is  spoken  of.  But  compare 
the  antithesis  in  Gen.  xxxii.  10:  "one  statt'" 
and  "two  bands."  In  Israel  the  faith  consti- 
tuted the  nationality,  as  well  as  the  nationality  the 
faith,  as  is  shown  by  so  many  examples  (Rahab, 
Kuth,  the  Gibeonites,  etc.),  and  Israel  had  in  its 
religion  a  great  attractive  power. 

Ver.  38.  And  a  mixed  multitude. — 2'}y_^ 
y^.  Vulg. :  vulf/us  promiscuum;  Luther:  vid 
Pljbelvolk,  "  &  great  rabble," — "In  typical  ful- 
fillmenl  of  the  promise.  Gen.  xii.  3,  without 
doubt  stimulated  by  the  signs  and  wondfrs  of 
the  Lord  in  Egypt  (comp.  ix.  20;  x.  7;  xi.  3) 
to  seek  their  salvation  with  Israel,  a  great  mul- 
titude of  mixed  people  joined  themselves  to  the 
departing  Israelites ;  and,  according  to  the  gov- 
erning idea  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth,  they 
coulil  not  be  repelled,  although  these  people 
afterwards  became  a  snare  to  them.  Vid.  Num. 
xi.  4,  where  they  are  called  ']p3pN,  medley" 
(Keil).  Literally,  a  collection.'  Comp.  Deut. 
xxix.  11. 

Ver.  39.  Vid.  ver.  34.  It  does  not  mean  that 
they  had  no  time  to  leaven  their  dough,  but  that 
they  had  no  time  to  prepare  themselves  other 
provisions  besides.  The  deliverance  came  upon 
them  like  a  storm ;  they  were  even  thrust  out 
of  Egypt. 

Ver.  40.  Vid.  the  Introduction,  Keil  II.,  p. 
30,  Knobel,  p.  121. 

Ver.  41.  On  the  self-same  day. — Knobel 
says  very  strangely,  that  the  meaning  is  that 
Jacob  entered  Egypt  on  the  same  day,  the  14th 
of  Abih.  Keil  understands  the  day  before  de- 
signated, vers.  11-14.  We  assume  that  "day" 
here  denotes  "time"  in  the  more  general  sense. 

Ver.  42.  Keil  renders:  night  of  preservation. 
Knobel:  a  festival.  Both  ideas  are  involved  in 
"<0t^,  and  evidently  the  text  aims  to  express  the 


antithesis  indicated  in  our  translation  [Lange 
renders:  festliche  WachI,  "festive  vigil." — Tr.] 

Vers.  43-45.  The  ordinance  of  the  Pas- 
sover.— i^Pn>  i-  ?.  pn,  law,  statute.  As  Israel 
now  begins  to  become  a  people  and  a  popular 
congregation,  the  main  features  of  their  legal 
constitution  are  at  once  defined.  It  all  starts 
with  the  Passover  as  the  religious  communion 
of  the  people,  for  which  now  circumcision  is 
prescribed  as  a  prerequisite.  As  circumcision 
constitutes  the  incipient  boundary-line  and  sepa- 
ration between  Israel  and  the  life  of  secular  peo- 
ple, so  the  paschal  communion  is  the  character- 
istic feature  of  the  completed  separation.  First, 
the  congregation  is  instituted  ;  then  follows  the 
preliminary  institution  of  the  priesthood  in  the 
sanctification  of  the  first-born ;  then  the  first 
trace  of  the  fixed  line  of  distinction,  in  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread;  then 
the  first  provision  for  the  permanent  sacrificial 
service,  in  Jehovah's  claiming  for  Himself  the 
first-born  of  beasts,  xiii.  12,  while  a  distinction 
is  at  the  same  time  made  between  clean  and 
unclean  beasts,  ver.  13;  and  finally  the  iniinia- 
tion  is  made  that  the  natural  sacerdotal  duly  of 
the  first-born  shall  be  redeemed  and  transferred 
to  a  pos;(ii)(!  priesthood.  The  circumstance  that 
Israel  thereby  came  into  a  new  relation  to  fo- 
reigners, "that  a  crowd  of  strangers  joined 
themselves  to  the  departing  Israelites"  (Keil), 
can  only  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  occasions  for 
that  fixing  of  the  first  features  of  the  law  which 
was  here  quite  in  place. — No  stranger. — What 
is  said  of  the  "IDJ"j3,  or  non-Israelite,  in  gene- 
ral, is  more  particularly  said  of  the  sojourner 
(DC'in)  and  of  the  hireling,  day-laborer  (T'^iyj. 
The  latter,  if  not  an  Israelite,  is  a  1J  who  re- 
sides a  longer  or  shorter  time  among  the  Israel- 
ites. Yet  the  exclusion  is  not  absolute,  except 
as  regards  the  uncircumcised ;  every  servant, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  submits  to  circumcision 
(for  no  one  could  be  circumcised  by  force, 
although  circumcision  was  within  the  option  of 
all)  assumes  the  privileges  and  obligations  of 
the  communion.  Thus,  therefore,  llie  distinc- 
tion of  classes,  as  related  to  the  communion  of 
the  people  of  God,  is  here  excluded. 

Ver.  46.  In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten. 
— A  new  enforcement  of  the  law  that  the  com- 
munion, as  such,  must  be  maintained.  The  sig- 
nificance of  the  words:  "Thou  shalt  not  carry 
forth  aught  of  the  flesh  abroad,"  the  mediaaval 
Church  had  little  conception  of.* 

Vers.  50,  51.  The  next  to  the  last  verse  de- 
clares that  this  became  a  fixed  custom  in  Israel ; 
and  the  last  one  recurs  again  to  the  identity  of 
the  festive  day  with  the  day  of  the  deliverance 
of  Israel  from  Egypt. 

Ch.  XIII.,  ver.  1.  Sanctify  unto  me  every 
first-born. — "  The  sanctification  of  the  first- 
born is  closely  connected  with  the  Passover. 
The  Passover  effects  (?)  the  exemption  of  the 
first-born  of  Israel,  and  the  exemption  has  as 
its  aim  their  sanctification"  (Keil).  But  the 
thing  meant  is   sanctification  in   the   narrower 


CIIAP.  XII.  37— XIII.  16. 


43 


sense,  the  preparation  of  the  sacerdotal  order  and 
of  the  offerings ;  for  the  generalsanctification  com- 
prised the  whole  people.  Here  we  have  to  do  with 
sanctification  for  the  specific  service  of  Jehovah. 
It  is  assumed  that,  the  first-born  are  representa- 
tives and  sureties  of  the  whole  race,  and  that 
therefore,  without  the  intervention  of  grace  and 
forbearance,  the  first-born  of  Israel  also  would 
have  been  slain.  Accordingly,  the  phrase  :  "it 
is  mine,"  refers  certainly  not  only  to  the  fact 
that  Jehovah  created  the  first-born,  as  Kurtz 
maintains,  but  still  more  to  the  right  of  posses- 
sion which  this  gracious  favor  establishes. 
Keil  denies  this.  It  refers,  he  says,  according 
to  Num.  iii.  13;  viii.  17,  to  the  fact  that  Jeho- 
vah, on  the  day  when  he  slew  the  first-born  of 
Egypt,  sanctified  the  first-born  of  Israel,  and 
therefore  spared  them.  An  ultra-Calvinistic  dis- 
position of  things,  which  seems  to  ground  the 
exemption  on  Jehovah's  caprice.  While  the 
sanctification  cannot  be  dissociated  from  the 
exemption,  as  little  can  the  exemption  be  disso- 
ciated from  the  creation.  The  election  of  Israel 
is  indeed  the  prerequisite  of  the  exemption  of 
the  Israelitish  first-born;  but  this  exemption 
again,  as  an  act  of  grace,  is  a  condition  of  the 
special  saneiification  of  the  first-born. 

Ver.  3.  Remember  this  day.  "  In  vers. 
3-10,  the  ordinance  respecting  the  seven  days' 
feast  of  unleavened  bread  (xii.  15-20),  is  made 
known  by  Moses  to  the  people  on  the  day  of  tlie 
exodus  at  the  station  Succoth"  (Keil).  We 
have  already  above  (on  xii.  8)  pointed  out  the 
incorrectness  of  this  view.  It  is  all  the  more 
incorrect,  if,  with  Keil  and  others,  we  find  in  the 
leaven  a  symbol  of  sinfulness.  The  leaven  which 
the  Jews  ha^l  heretofore  had  was  connected  with 
the  leaven  of  Egypt,  and  was  thus  fitted  to  serve 
as  a  symbol  of  the  fact  that  they  were  connected 
with  the  sinfulness  of  Egypt,  and  that  this  con- 
nection must  be  broken  oflF.  If  now  they  had 
not  been  driven  out  so  hastily,  they  would  have 
had  time  to  produce  for  themselves  a  pure 
and  specifically  Jewish  leaven,  and  this  perhaps 
seemed  the  more  desirable  thing,  as  the  un- 
leavened bread  was  not  very  palatable.  But  for 
this  there  was  no  time.  With  this  understand- 
ing of  the  case,  we  render  the  last  clause  of  ver. 
3,  "  so  that  nothing  leavened  was  eaten."  [This 
translation,  however,  is  hardly  possible. — Te.]. 
— The  house  of  servants.  Servants  of  private 
persons  they  were  not,  it  is  true,  but  all  Egypt  was 
made  for  them  by  Ph.araoh  one  house  of  slaves. 

Vers.  4,  5.  The  urgency  in  the  enforcement  of 
this  feast  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  fact  that  there 
was  no  pleasure  in  eating  the  unleavened  bread. 
Hence  the  festival  is  represented  as  chiefiy  a  ser- 
vice rendered  to  God.  The  meals  accompanying 
thank-oiferings  preserved  the  equilibrium. 

Ver.  6.  On  the  seventh  day.  In  the  line 
of  the  feast-days  the  seventh  day  is  specially 
mentioned  as  the  festive  termination;  on  it 
work  ceased,  and  the  people  assembled  together. 

Ver.  9.  For  a  sign  upon  thy  hand.  Ac- 
cording to  Spencer,  allusion  is  made  to  the 
heathen  custom  of  branding  marks  on  the  fore- 
head or  hand  of  soldiers  and  slaves.  Keil,  re- 
ferring to  Dent.  vi.  8  and  xi.  18,  assumes  that 
we  are  probably  to  understand  bracelets  or 
frontlets.     But  in  the  passages  quoted  a  much 


more  general  inculcation  of  Moses'  words  is 
meant.  Inasmuch  as  the  Jews  were  to  observe 
several  great  festivals,  it  is  not  to  be  assumed 
that  they  were  to  be  required  to  wear  the  signs 
only  on  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  ;  all  the 
less,  as  the  day  was  so  definitely  fixed.  We 
therefore  regard  the  expression  both  here  and  in 
Deuteronomy  as  symbolic,  but  suggested  by  a 
proverbial  phrase  borrowed  from  the  nations 
of  antiquity.  Our  language  has  a  similar  pro- 
verbial, but  less  elegant,  expression.  That  the 
Pharisaic  Jews  afterwards  actually  made  them- 
selves such  phylacteries  grew  out  of  their  slavery 
to  the  letter  of  the  law.  See  more  iu  detail  in 
Keil,  n.  p.  37. 

Ver.  V2.  Every  first-born  of  beasts.  First, 
the  text  recurs  to  the  common  statute  respecting 
the  first-born  of  men  and  beasts;  hence:  "all 
that  openeth  the  womb."  According  to  Kei!, 
the  term  T^i'ri,  to  set  apart,  offer,  is  used  to 
point  a  contrast  to  the  Canaanitish  custom  of  con- 
secrating the  first-born  to  Moloch ;  he  quotes 
Lev.  xviii.  21.  But  the  verb  seems  to  express  a 
more  original  and  general  separation  of  what  is 
offered  from  what  is  not  offered  ;  or  it  means  to 
let  depart.— The  males.  With  this  matter, 
therefore,  the  female  first-born  have  nothing  to 
do.  The  first-born  son  is  the  head  of  the  young 
house,  the  heir  of  the  old  house.  As  the  heir 
of  the  old  house  he  also  assumes  its  guilt ;  as 
the  head  of  the  young  house  he  must  represent 


More 


cular   spccifica 


concerning 


the  first-born  male  clean  beast  are  given  in  xxu. 
29  (30),  Kent.  xv.  21. 

Ver.  13.  The  germ  of  the  distinction  between 
clean  and  unclean  beasts.  The  substitution  of  a 
sheep  or  kid  for  the  ass  is  a  proof  that  the  unclean 
beast  signifies  not  the  evil,  but  the  profane,  that 
which  is  not  fitted  to  serve  as  a  religious  symbol. 

Ver.  14.  'When  thy  son  asketh  thee. 
Even  in  the  theocracy  the  ceremonial  worship 
is  to  be  not  a  dumb  one,  repressing,  or  even 
suppressing,  questions  and  instruction,  but  is  to 
be  spiritualized  by  questions  and  instruction. 

Ver.  15.  All  the  first-born  of  my  children. 
Keil  opposes  the  view,  very  prevalent  of  old, 
that  the  sanctification  of  the  first-born  is  to  be 
derived  from  the  destination  of  the  firstborn  to 
be  priests.  But  he  afterwards  (II.,  p.  30)  himself 
brings  forwards  reasons  which  refute  his  own 
view,  founded  on  that  of  Outram  and  Vitriuga, 
especially  by  citing  Num.  iii.  Nothing  can  be 
clearer  than  Num.  iii.  12.* 

Ver.  16.  Also  in  reference  to  the  phylacteries 
we  hold  to  the  symbolical  interpretation  of  the 
Caraites  in  opposition  to  the  Uteral  one  of  the 
Talmudists;   so  Keil  II.,  p.  37. 


to  be  UDwarrunted.— Tr.J. 


FOURTH    SECTION. 

Direction  of  the  Exodus.     The  Pursuit.     The  Distress.     The  Red  Sea.     The  Song 
of  Triumph. 

Chapters  XIII.  17— XV.  21. 

A.— DIRECTION  OF  THE  MARCH.     THE  DISTRESS.     PASSAGE  THROUGH 

THE  RED  SEA.     JUDGMENT  AND  DELIVERANCE. 


17  And  it  came  to  pass,  wten  Pharaoh  had  let  the  people  go,  that  God  led  them 
not  through  [byl  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  although  [for]'  that  was 
near ;  for  God  said,  Lest  peradventure  the   [Lest  the]  people  repent,  when  they 

18  see  war,  and  they  return  to  Egypt :  But  God  led  the  people  about  through  [by\ 
the  way  of  the  wilderness  of  the  Red  Sea.     And  the  children  of  Israel  went  up  har- 

19  nessed  [armed]  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  Moses  took  the  bones  of  Joseph 
with  him;  for  he  had  straitly  [strictly]  sworn  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  God 

20  will  surely  visit  you,  and  ye  shall  carry  up  my  bones  away  hence  with  you.  And 
they  took  their  journey  [they  journeyed]  from  Succoth,  and  encamped  in  Ethara  in 

21  [on]  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  And  Jehovah  went  before  them  by  day  in  a  pil- 
lar of  a  cloud  [of  cloud],  to  lead  them  the  way;  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire, 

22  to  give  them  light ;  to  go  by  day  and  night.  He  took  not  away  the  pillar  of  the 
cloud  [of  cloud]  by  day,  nor  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night, /toot  before  the  people. 

Chap.  XIV.  1,  2  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Speak  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  that  they  turn  [turn  back]  and  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  between  Mig- 
dol  and  the  sea,  over  against  [before]  Baal-zephon  ;  before  [over  against]  it  shall 

3  ye  encamp  by  the  sea.     For  [And]  Pharaoh  will  say  of  the  children  of  Israel,  They 

4  are  entangled  [bewildered]  in  the  land,  the  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in.  And  I 
will  harden  Pharaoh's  heart,  that  he  shall  [and  he  will]  follow  after  them,  and  I 
will  be  honored  [get  me  honor]  upon   Pharaoh,  and  upon  all  his  host;  that  [and] 

5  the  Egyptians  may  [shall]  know  that  I  am  Jehovah.  And  they  did  so.  And  it 
was  told  the  king  of  Egypt  that  the  people  fled :  and  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  and  of 
his  servants  was  turned  against  the  people,  and  they  said.  Why  have  we  done  this 
[What  is  this  that  we  have  done],  that  we  have  let  Israel  go  from  serving  us? 

6,  7  And  he  made  ready  his  chariot,  and  took  his  people  with  him.  And  he  took 
six  hundred  chosen  chariots,  and  all  the  chariots  of  Egypt,  and  captains  over  every 

8  one  [all]  of  them.     And  Jehovah  hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt, 

9  and  he  pursued  after  the  children  of  Israel,  and  the  children  of  Israel  went  out  with 
an  [a]  high  hand.  But  [And]  the  Egyptians  pursued  after  them,  all  the  horses 
and  chariots  [chariot-horses]  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  horsemen,  and  his  army,  and 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

'  rXm.  17.  "For  that  was  near."  A.  V.,  Murphy,  Kalisch,  GeBenins.  Olaire,  Alford  retain  the  rendering  ".ilfhongh" 
for  ^3  in  this  sentence.  But  such  a  meaning  for  ''2  cannot  be  well  substantiated.  Ps.  xlix.  10,  adduced  by  Fiirst,  ia  cer- 
tainly not  an  instance  of  such  use.  Pa.  cxvi.  10  ia  more  plausible.  The  A.  V.  rendering:  "I  believed,  therefore  ["'3]  have 
I  spoken,"  19  incorrect.  But  it  is  not  necessary,  with  some,  to  translate:  "I  believed,  although  T  speak."  The  particle 
here  probably  liaa  the  meaning  "  when."  In  Ps.  xlix.  19,  adduced  by  Gesenins  (Thesaurus),  it  means  "because,"  the  apo- 
dosis  following  in  ver.  20.  The  same  may  be  aaid  of  Gen.  viii.  21 ;  , 
Bufficcs  in  Jer.  iv.  30;  xxx.  U;  xlix.  lb;  1.  11 ;  li.  63;  Mic.  vii.  8;  P 
Hos.  xiii.  1.5;  Nah.  i.  10;  Deut.  xviii.  14;  xxix.  19;  Jer.  xlvi.  23;  Ps.  Ixxi.  10;  1  Chron.  xxviii.  5.  The  rcnderirg  "  where- 
as," or  "  while,"  may  be  adopted  in  Mai.  i.  4 ;  Eccl.  iv.  14.  Probably  these  com])rise  all  the  passages  in  whicli  Ihe  meaning 
"  though  "  can  with  any  plausibility  be  maintained.  ^3  can  be  assumed  to  have  the  meaning  "  although  "  only  as  being 
equivalent  to  *3  DJ,  "even  when."  Even  though  this  should  be  assumed  sometimes  to  occur,  still  the  case  before  ua  ia 
not  of  that  sort.  The  true  explanation  of  such  conatructiona  is  to  assume  a  slight  ellipsis  in  the  expression:  "God  led 
them  not  by  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philiatines,  [as  might  have  been  expected],  aeeintr  that  was  near."  Or:  "  for  that 
WW  near  [and  return  to  Egypt  in  case  of  danger  would  be  more  readily  resorted  to]."— Ts.J 


CHAP.  XIII.  17— XIV.  31.  45 

10  overtook  tliem  encamping  by  the  sea,  beside  Pi-liahiroth,  before  Baal-zephon.  And 
when  Pharaoh  drew  nigh,  the  children  of  Israel  lifted  up  their  eyes,  and  behold, 
the  Egyptians  [E^^ypt]  marched  after  them ;  and  they  were  sore  afraid :  and  the 

11  children  of  Israel  cried  out  unto  Jehovah.  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Because 
[Is  it  because]  there  icere  no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast  thou  [that  thou  hast]  taken  us 
away  to  die  in  the  wilderness?  wherefore  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with   [what  is  this 

12  that  thou  hast  done  to]  us,  xc  carry  [in  bringing]  us  forth  out  of  Egypt?  Is  not 
this  the  word  that  we  did  tell  [spake  unto]  thee  in  Egypt,  saying,  Let  us  alone, 
that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians?     For  it  had  been  [is]  better  for  us  to  serve  the 

13  Egyptians  than  that  we  should  die  in  the  wilderness.  And  Moses  said  unto  the 
people,  Fear  ye  not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  Jehovah,  which  he  will  shew 
to  [work  for]  you  to-day  :  for  the  Egyptians  whom  ye  have  seen  to-day,  ye  shall 

14  see  them  again  no  more  forever.     Jehovah  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold 

15  your  peace.     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  me?  speak 

16  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go  forward :  But  [And]  lift  thou  up  thy  rod, 
and  stretch  out  thine  [thy]  hand  over  the  sea,  and  divide  it :  and  the  children  of 

17  Israel  shall  go  on  dry  ground  through  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  I,  behold,  I  will 
harden  the  hearts  of  the  Egyptians,  and  they  shall  follow  them :  and  I  will  get  me 
honor  upon  Pharaoh,  and  upon  all  his  host,  upon  his  chariots,  and  upon  his  horse- 

18  men.     And  the  Egyptians  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah,  when  I  have  gotten  [get] 

19  me  honor  upon  Pharaoh,  upon  his  chariots,  and  upon  his  horsemen.     And  the  an- 
,  gel  of  God,  which  [who]  went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  removed  and  went  behind 

them  ;  and  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  [of  cloud]  went  [removed]  from  before  their  face 

20  [before  them],  and  stood  behind  them :  And  it  came  between  the  camp  of  the 
Egyptians  and  the  camp  of  Israel ;  and  it  was  a  cloud  and  darkness  to  than  [and 
darkness],  but  it  gave  light  by  night  to  these  [it  lightened  the  night]  :'  so  that  [and] 

21  the  one  came  not  near  the  other  all  the  night.  And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand 
over  the  sea ;  and  Jehovah  caused  the  sea  to  go  back  [flow]  by  a  strong  east  wind 
all  that  night,  and  made  the  sea  dry  land  [bare  r/round],'  and  the  waters  were  di- 

22  vided.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upou  the  dry 
ground:  and  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their 

23  left.     And  the  Egyptians  pursued,  and  went  in  after  them  to  the  midst  of  the  sea, 

24  even  all  Pharaoh's  horses,  his  chariots,  and  his  horsemen.  And  it  came  to  pass  that 
in  the  morning  watch  Jehovah  looked  unto  [looked  down  at]  the  host  of  the 
Egyptians  through  [in]  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud  [of  cloud],  and  troubled 

25  the  host  of  the  Egyptians,  And  took  off  [turned  aside]  their  chariot  wheels,  that  they 
drave  them  [and  made  them  drive]  heavily :  so  that  [and]  the  Egyptians  said.  Let 
us  flee  from  the  face  of  I.<rael ;  for  Jehovah  fighteth  for  them  against  the  Egyptians. 

26  And  Jehovah  said  unto  ]Moses,  Stretch  out  thine  [thy]  hand  over  the  sea,  that  the 
waters  may  come  again  [back]  upon  the  Egyptians,  upon  their  chariots,  and  upoa 

27  their  horsemen.  And  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  sea,  and  the  sea  re- 
turned to  his  strength  [to  its  course]  when  the  morning  appeared;  and  the 
Egyptians  fled  against  it ;  and  Jehovah  overthrew  [shook]  the  Egyptians  in  [into] 

28  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  the  waters  returned,  and  covered  the  chariots,  and  the 
horsemen  and  [of]*  all  the  host  of  Pharaoh  that  came  into  the  sea  after  them ; 

»  [XrV.  20.  nS'bn-nS  IS'l  ']pr^T\^  p^'n  'n-V  The  construction  is  difficult.  The  only  literal  rendering  is  : 
"  And  it  wns  (or,  ber.'ime)  the  cloud  .ind  the  darkness,  nnd  it  illnmined  the  night."  The  difficulty  is  gotten  over  bv  Knobol 
and  EvvalU  by  uttering  ^C'Tim  inlu  "il'DTim,   rL-adinj;  ;  "And  it  came  to  pass  as  to  the  cloud,  that  it   Uiadw   darkiieas." 

But  even  with  this  coi-jecturalchan  _•      •    -  .   .  !  -<  ■=.nry  to  aaisume  an  ellipsis  of  "to  the  one"  and  "  to  the  other,"  or 

^ide'  and  "on  the  otli>  I  ■    \.  ;ind  the  great  majorit      -         -  ■  _.  - 


cle  may  bo 

explained  as  pointing  l«^ 

It  was  the  cloud  and  the  darkness  which  have   been  alrciuly  de- 

Bcribed." 

Or  it  is  even  possible  to  t,. 

!-■■  ":n'^':    ■•■  1-.  '.'.'^ 

as  the  subject  of  the  verb  :  "  And  he  became  the  cloud  and  dark- 

nes3;  but  he  illumined  the  night."— 
s  [XIV.  21.     The  Hebrew  word 

Tr.]   ' 

here  used,  n^lH, 

is  different  from  the  one  rendered  "  dry  ground  "  in  the  next  vei^e ; 

and  there  ; 
on  the  firsi 

is  a  clear  distinction  in  the  meaning,  a?  is  quite  apparent  from  a  comparison  of  Gen.  viii.  13,  where  it  is  said,  that 
;  day  of  the  first  month  the  ground  was  3^11,  with  ver.  14,  where  it  is  said,  that  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of 

the  second 

month  the  earlh  was  U;3 

•.    The  firet  means 

:  free  from  water,  drained  ;  the  second  means :  free  from  moisture. 

dry.     TlK. 

.[xn 

di.ticct!,.n  is  generally ,cl, 
'.  2S.     The  preposition  'l 

'ar,  thongh  sometimes  not  exactly  observed.— Ta.l 

certainly  cannot  here  be  rendered  "and ;"  but  it  may  have  a  sort  of  resumptive  force, 

equivalent 

to  "even,"  "namely,"  "in 

,  short- '-TE.1 

46 


EXODUS. 


29  there  remained  not  so  much  as  one  of  them  [of  them  not  even  one].  But  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  walked  upon  dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  and  the  waters  were  a 

30  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left.  Thus  [And]  Jehovah  saved 
Israel  that  day  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians ;  and  Israel  saw  the  Egyptians 

31  dead  upon  the  sea  shore.  And  Israel  saw  that  [the]  great  work  which  Jehovah 
did  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  the  people  feared  Jehovah,  and  believed  in  Jehovah 
and  his  servant .' ' 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Chfip.  xiii.  17.  Not  by  the  way  of  the 
land  of  the  PhilistiDes.  Decidedly  wise, 
theocratic  policy  on  tlie  part  of  Moses,  rightly 
ascribed  to  God.  The  people,  disheartened  by 
servitude,  could  not  at  once  maintain  a  confJict 
with  the  warlike  Philistines,  without  being 
driven  back  to  Egypt.  They  must  first  acquire 
in  the  wilderness  the  qualities  of  heroes.  And 
that,  according  to  Goethe,  was  accomplished  in 
a  few  years !  On  the  exodus,  comp.  Introduc- 
tion; Keil,  II.  p.  42;   Knobel,  p.  131. 

Ver.  18.  Led  the  people  about.  It  is  a 
question  whether  the  round-about  way  spoken 
of  has  reference  simply  to  the  absolutely  direct 
route  through  the  Philistine  country,  or  to 
another  more  direct  one  which  they  had  al- 
ready begun  to  take,  but  which  they  were  to 
give  up.  According  to  xiv.  2,  the  latter  is  to 
be  assumed.  Moreover,  reference  is  made  not 
only  to  the  small  distance  to  the  Red  Sea,  but  to 
the  whole  distance  through  the  wilderness  along 
the  Red  Sea,  first  southward  along  the  Gulf  of 
Suez,  then  along  the  Elanitio  Gulf  northwards, 
(see  Knobel,  p.  131).  For  we  have  here  to  do 
with  an  introductory  and  summary  account.  It 
was  natural  that  nothing  but  the  prophetic 
divine  word  of  Moses  should  have  the  control 
of  the  march,  inasmuch  as  the  people  would 
have  rushed  impetuously  towards  the  old  cara- 
van road  of  their  fathers.  Moses  himself  was 
further  influenced  by  his  former  journey  to 
Sinai  and  the  revelation  there  made  to  him. 
"  From  Raemses  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf  woulil 
he  a  diBlance  of  some  35  miles,  which  might 
easily  have  been  passed  over  by  the  Israelites  in 
three  days"  (Robinson  I.,  80).  The  deviation 
from  the  direct  way  must,  however,  be  taken 
into  consideration,  even  though  it  may  have 
added  little  to  the  distance.  On  the  three  routes 
from  Cairo  to  Suez,  see  Robinson,  p.  73. — Of 
the  Red  Sea.  See  the  Lexicons,  Travels, 
Knobel,  p.  131,  sy?.*— Especially  as  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  went  up  armed  for  battle. 
So  we  understand  the  force  of  the  1  before  Q'V'pn. 
A  march  in  order  of  battle  would  have  looked  I'ike 
a  challenge  to  the  Philistines.  Moreover,  D"On 
signifies,  among  other  things,  to  provoke  to 
auger.-J- 


*  [Knohel  after  a  learned  discussion  comes  to  th"*  couclu- 
Bion  that  tlie  Hebrew  name  for  the  Eod  Sea,  C11D"D''  (''"*- 
rally  "  sea  of  sedge  ")  was  probably  derived  from  some  town 
on  the  Ben,  named  from  the  abundance  of  sedge  growing 
Dear  it.  He  takes  this  view  in  preference  to  the  one  which 
derives  the  name  of  the  sea  directly  from  the  sedge,  for  the 
reason  that  the  sedge  is  not  a  general  feature  of  the  sea,  and 
from  the  uniform  umiesioa  of  the  article  before  n^Q.— Tb.  I. 


Ver.  19.  The  bones  of  Joseph.  Another 
testimony  to  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Isra- 
elites retained  moral  impressions  and  old  tradi- 
tions. The  vow,  480  years  old,  and  the  oath 
which  sealed  it,  were  still  fresh.  Vid.  Gen.  i. 
25.  On  the  fruitfulness  of  the  land  of  Goshen, 
see  Robinson,  p.  76.  "From  the  Land  of  Goshen 
to  the  Red  Sea  the  direct  and  only  route  was  along 
the  v.alley  of  the  ancient  canal"  (Ibid.  p.  79). 

Ver.  20.  From  Succoth.  Inasmuch  as  they 
had  already,  according  to  chap.  xii.  37,  gone  from 
llaemses  to  Succoth  in  battle  array,  Succoth 
(Tent-town,  or  Booths)  would  seem  to  designate 
not  the  first  gathering-place  of  the  people  (Keil), 
but  the  point  at  which  the  first  instinctive  move- 
ment towards  the  Philistine  border  was  checked 
by  the  oracle  of  Moses,  and  by  the  appearance 
of  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  smoke.  While  they  at 
first  wished  to  go  from  Succoth  (say,  by  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  or  even 
farther  on),  directly  to  Palestine,  they  now  had 
to  go  along  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bitter  Lakes 
towards  the  Red  Sea.  Thus  they  come  from  Suc- 
coth to  Etham.  "  Etham  lay  at  the  end  of  the 
wilderness,  which  in  Num.  xxxiii.  8  is  called 
the  wilderness  of  Etham;  but  in  Ex.  xv.  22,  the 
wilderness  of  Shur,  that  is,  where  Egypt  ends 
andthedesert  of  Arabia  begins"  (Keil).  "Etham 
is  to  be  looked  for  either  on  the  isthmus  of  Ar- 
bek,  in  the  region  of  the  later  Serapeum,  or  the 
south  end  of  the  Bitter  Lakes.  Against  the  first 
view  (that  of  Stickel,  Kurtz,  Knobel),  and  for  the 
second,  a  decisive  consideration  is  the  distance, 
which,  although  Seetzen  went  from  Suez  to  Arbek 
in  eight  hours,  yet  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  French  scholar,  Du  Bois  Aymi5,  amounts  to 
60,000  metres  (16  hours,  about  37  miles),  a  dis- 
tance such  that  the  people  of  Israel  could  not  in 
one  day  have  traveled  from  Etham  to  Hahiroth. 
We  must  therefore  look  for  Etham  at  the  south 
end  of  the  basin  of  the  Bitter  Lakes,  whither 
Israel  may  have  come  in  two  days  from  Abu 
Keisheib,  and  then  on  the  third  day  have 
reached  the  plain  of  Suez  between  Ajrud  and 
the  sea"  (Keil).  Ahu  Keisheib  is  Heroopolia 
near  Raemses;  Ajrud  is  thought  to  be  identical 
with  Pi-Hahiroth.    Vid.  Num.  xxxiii.  5  sq.* 


been  intended 

-3 

vould  more  probably  have  been  used.  Be- 

8ides,Enchast 
in  the  preced 
would  make  tl 

n™ 

ent  would  be  almost  contradictory  of  that 
verse.    Tlie  fact  that  they  were  armed, 
MS  lit;elv  to  lie  afraid  of  war  than  if  they 

h'    i.u.ok    th.it    U,"Dn    signifies,  among 

other  things,  t 

,.' 

■    '  ,    1,,   ,.,_-,  r,  lias  littl..  force  in  this  con- 

is  its  etvmi>;" 
its  etymologic 

Isl 

.      .Ill      -.    -.that,  evi^n  if  this  were 

niflcancs  it  is  a  meaning  nowhere  tound 

should    have   to    translate,    "went    up    provoked    tj  au- 

^''*' [Notice  may  here  he  taken  of  a  theory  of  the  Exodua 
propounded  by  lirugsch  at  the  Interuatiunal  Consreaj  of 


CHAP.  Xllt. 


Ver.  21.  And  Jehovah  went  before  thsm. 

According  to  Keil  this  first  took  place  at  Etham: 
but  it  is  to  be  observed  tliat  the  decisive  move- 
ment began  at  Succoth.  Keil  says  indeed  that 
in  verse  17  it  reads  that  Elohim  [God]  led 
them,  not  till  here  that  Jehovah  went  before 
them.  But  Jehovah  and  Elohim  are  not  two 
different  Gods.  Jehovah,  as  Elohim,  knew  the 
Philistines  well,  and  knew  that  Israel  must  avoid 
a  contest  with  them.  God,  as  Jehovah,  was  Ilie 
miracle-working  leader  of  His  people. — By  day 
in  a  pillar  of  cloud.—"  This  sign  of  the  diviiiu 
presence  and  guidance  has  a  natural  analogue 
in  the  caravan  fire,  viz.  small  iron  vessels  or 
stoves  containing  a  wood  fire,  which,  fastened 
on  the  tops  of  long  poles,  are  carried  as  way- 
marks  before  caravans,  and  according  to  Curliiis 
(de  ffestis  Alex.  mag.  V.  2,  7),  in  trackless  regions, 
are  also  carried  before  armies  on  the  march, 
the  smoke  indicating  to  the  soldiers  the  direc- 
tion by  day,  the  flame,  by  nighr.  Comp.  liar 
mar.  Observations  II.,  p.  278,  Pooocke,  Descrip- 
tion of  the  East,  II.,  p.  83.  Siill  more  analogous 
is  the  custom  (mentioned  by  Curtius  III.  3,  9) 
of  the  ancient  Persians,  who  carried  before  the 
marching  army  on  silver  altars  a  fire  guem  ip.ri 
sacrum  et  ieternum  vocant.  Yet  one  must  not 
identify  the  cloudy  and  fiery  pillar  of  the  Israel- 
itish  exodus  with  such  caravan  or  army  fires, 
and  regard  it  as  only  a  mythical  conception  or 
embellishment  of  this  natural  fact "  (Keil).  Ho 
opposes  Koster's  view,  that  the  cloud  was  pro- 
duced by  an  ordinary  caravan  fire,  and  became  a 
symbol  of  the  divine  presence,  thus  setting  aside 
also  Knobel's  theory  (Comm.,  p.  134)  of  a  legend 
which  was  derived  from  this  usage.  Here  too 
Keil  is  concerned  about  supernaturalism  in  the 
abstract,  and  about  something  purely  outward, 
80  that  we  do  not  need  here  to  move  in  the 
sphere  of  faith,  of  vision,  of  symbol,  and  of 
mystery.  The  internal  world  is  left  out  of  con- 
sideration, while  the  inspired  letter  has  to  servo 
as  evidence  for  the  miraculous  appearance. 
According  to  him  the  phenomenon  was  a  cloud 
which   inclosed   a   fire,    and    which,    when    the 


Orient.-ili^ts  i 

I)r.  J,  P.  Th, 

In  l,ri.--  it  - 


Israelites  were  on  the  march,  assumed  the  form 
of  motion  ["  a  dark  pillar  of  smoke  rising 
towards  heaven,"  Keil],  but,  when  the  taberna- 
cle rested,  "perhaps  more  the  form  of  a  round 
ball  of  cloud."  It  was  the  same  fire,  he  says 
further,  in  which  the  Lord  revealed  Himself  to 
Moses  out  of  the  bush  (iii.  2),  and  afterwards 
descended  upon  Sinai  amidst  thunder  and  light- 
ning. He  calls  it  the  symbol  of  the  divine  fiery 
jealousy.  Even  the  Prophets  and  Psalms  are 
made  to  share  in  this  literalness  (Is.  iv.  5  sq. ; 
xlix.  10;  Ps.  xci.  o  sq. ;  cxxi.  6).  A  sort  of 
solution  is  cited  from  Sartorius  in  his  Medita- 
tions, to  the  effect  that  God,  by  special  aclion  on 
the  earthly  element,  formed  out  of  its  sphere 
and  atmosphere  a  body,  which  He  then  assumed 
and  permeated,  in  order  in  it  to  reveal  His  real 
presence.  But  is  not  that  Indian  mythology  as 
much  as  is  the  modern  theological  doctrine  of 
the  Kcvum^  ?  We  leave  the  mystery  in  its  unique- 
ness suspended  between  this  world  and  the 
oiher,  only  observing  that  the  problem  will  have 
to  be  solved,  how,  in  later  times,  the  smoke  of 
the  offering  which  rose  up  from  the  tabernacle 
was  related  to  the  pillar  of  cloud.  Likewise  the 
question  arises:  What  was  the  relation  between 
the  light  of  the  perpetual  lamp,  or  the  late  ex- 
piring and  early  kindling  fire  of  the  burnt-offer- 
ing, and  the  pillar  of  fire?  Vid.  Ex.  xxix.  39; 
Num.  xxviii.  4.  The  burnt-offering  derives  its 
name  from  the  notion  of  rising  ;  comp.  especially 
Judg.  xiii.  20.  The  ark,  as  the  central  object 
in  the  tabernacle,  which  generally  preceded  the 
host,  retired  in  decisive  moments  behind  the 
host,  according  to  Josh.  iv.  11  ;  so  the  pillar  of 
cloud  here,  xiv.  19.  Rationalism  finds  nothing 
but  a  popular  legend  in  the  religious  and  sym- 
bolic contemplation  of  the  guidance  of  the  living 
God ;  literalism  seeks  to  paint  the  letters  with 
fantastic,  golden  arabesques.  Assumption  (as- 
cension) of  a  cloud  in  the  form  of  a  ball  whose 
interior  consists  of  fire  ! 

XIV.  2.  Turn  back  and  encamp  before 
Pi-hahiroth.* — In  Num.  xxxiii.  8  Hahiroth; 
Pi  is  the  Egyptian  article.  This  camping-place 
is  identified  by  many  with  the  place  named 
.•ijrud  or  Agirud,  "now  a  fortress  with  a  well 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep,  which,  how- 
ever, contains  such  bitter  water  that  camels  can 
hardly  drink  it,  on  the  pilgrims'  road  from 
Cairo  to  Mecca,  four  hours'  distance  northwest 

«  [Tho 


latter  wiHi  his  ho. 


iu.uut,  -IID  or  nj3 
word  is  conctnsivo  n 


the  Red  Sea  througti  \ 


.  4).— Tr.].     '  others,  Canon  Couk  (i 


I  ,.f  the  Bitter  Lakes,  and  that,  in- 
1.11  the  e»st  side  of  the  basin,  they 
nt  along  the  west  side.  So,  among 
1  the  Speaker's  Commentary).— Tk.] 


of  Suez,  conip.  Niebuhr,  Beise  I.,  p.  216;  Burck- 
hardt,  St/ria^  p.  6lit>,  and  Robiuson,  Researches 
I  ,  p.  08.  From  Ajrud  there  stretches  out  a 
plain,  ten  miles  long  and  as  many  bruad,  towards 
the  sea  west  of  Suez,  and  from  the  foot  of  the 
AlaliMh  to  the  arm  of  the  sea  north  of  Su.  z 
(Robinson  I.,  p.  05).  This  plain  very  probably 
served  the  Israelites  as  a  camping-place,  so  that 
they  encamped  before,  i.  e.  east  of  Ajrud  towards 
the  sea.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Hahiroth  (Aj- 
rud) must  be  sought  also  the  other  places,  of 
which  thus  far  no  trace  has  been  discovered  " 
(Keil).  On  jMigdol  and  Baal-zephon,  vid.  Keil 
II.,  p.  43.  Since  the  names  Migdol  and  Banl- 
eephon  are  without  doubt  designed  to  mark  the 
line  of  travel,  it  is  natural  to  assume  that  they 
indicate  the  whence  and  the  whither  of  the  route. 
According  to  Robinson  (I.,  p.  C4)  a  rocky  defile 
called  JIuntula  leads  to  the  region  of  Ajrud  (Pi- 
hahiroth)  on  the  left,  and  Suez  on  the  right,  on 
the  Red  Sea.  Strauss  (Sinai  iind  Golgotha,  p. 
122)  called  the  defile  Muklala,  and  identifies 
Baal-zephon  with  Suez.  The  question  about 
the  passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  Red 
Sea  is  obscured  by  theological  bias  in  both 
directions.  It  is  regarded  as  a  natural  event, 
raised  by  legendary  tradition  into  a  miracle,  by 
Kuobel,  p.  135  sq.,  where  the  historical  remarks 
on  the  Red  Sea  and  the  analogies  of  the  passage 
are  very  noleworthy.  Karl  von  Raumer,  on  tlie 
contrary  (Pald^tina,  p.  478,  under  the  head, 
Zug  der  Israelilen  aus  Egi/pten  nach  Kanaan), 
regards  as  rationalistic  even  the  view  of  Nie- 
buhr, Robinson  and  others,  that  the  passage 
took  place  at  Suez  or  north  of  Suez,  quoting  the 
opinion  of  Wilson  and  oiher  Americans  (p.  480). 
He  adopts  the  view  of  Schubert,  Wilson  and 
others,  that  the  Israelites  marched  south  of  Suez 
by  Bessantin  to  the  Red  Sea.  Robinson's  re- 
mark, that  the  hypothesis  that  the  Israelites 
passed  over  from  the  plain  of  Bede  (Wady  Ta- 
warik)  is  overthrown  by  the  circumstance  that 
there  the  sea  is  twelve  miles  wide,  and  that  the 
people  did  not  have  but  two  hours  for  the  pas- 
sage, Von  Raumer  overthrows  by  means  of  a 
dictum  of  Luther  s  concerning  the  miraculous 
power  of  God.  Von  Raumer  also  will  not  hear 
to  any  natural  event  as  the  substratum  of  the 
miracle.  "The  Holy  Scriptures,"  he  says, 
"  know  nothing  of  a  N.  N.  E.  wind,  but  say  that 
an  east  wind  divided  the  waters,  that  they  stood 
up  on  the  right  and  the  left  like  walls  ;  there  is 
nothing  said  about  an  ebb,  hence  the  duration 
of  the  ebb  is  not  to  be  taken  into  account."  He 
seems  even  to  be  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that 
there  is  an  alternation  of  ebb  and  flood  in  the 
Ri-d  Sea;  and  in  places  where  others  also,  in 
individual  cases,  at  the  ebb-tide  have  ridden 
through,  he  holds  that  the  passage  could  not 
have  take  place,  e.  g.  where  Napoleon  in  1799 
crossed  the  ford  near  Suez,  and  thtis  endangered 
his  life  (Robinson  I.,  p.  85).  Even  the  co-ope- 
ration of  the  wind,  he  holds,  can  be  taken  into 
account  only  in  the  interest  of  the  magnified 
miracle,  although  it  is  designated  not  only  in 
ver.  21  as  the  cause  of  the  drying  of  the  sea. 
but  the  like  fact  is  also  referred  to  in  Moses' 
Bong  of  praise  (xv.  8;  conip.  Ps.  cvi.  9  and 
other  passages).  Hence,  too,  he  holds,  the  cast 
wind  must  not  be  understood  as  being,   more 


exactly,  a  north-east  wind.*  Similar  biblical 
passages  are  given  by  Kuobel,  p.  139.  The 
objection  that  north  of  Suez  there  is  not  water 
enough  to  have  overwhelmed  Pharaoh's  host,  is 
removed  by  the  observation  of  Stickel  and 
Kurtz,  that,  accor'liug  to  travellers,  the  Gulf  of 
Suez  formerly  extended  much  farther  north  than 
now,  and  in  course  of  time  through  the  blowing 
ill  of  sand  has  become  shorter,  and  hence  also 
more  shallow  (Kuobel,  p.  140).  Also  Strauss 
(Sinai  und  Golgotha,  p.  123)  regards  the  hypo- 
thesis that  the  passage  took  place  as  far  south 
as  below  the  mountain  Atakah,  where  the  sea 
is  nearly  twelve  miles  wide,  as  inadniiesible, 
ahhough  he  insists,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
natural  forces  are  insufficient  to  explain  the 
event.  While  the  subject  has  been  very  care- 
fully examined  in  this  aspect,  two  principal  fac- 
tors of  the  miracle  have  been  too  little  regarded: 
( I)  the  assurance  and  foresight  of  the  prophet  that 
in  the  moment  of  the  greatest  need  a  miracle  of 
deliverance  would  be  performed;  (2)  the  mira- 
culously intensified  natural  phenomenon,  corre- 
sponding to  the  harmonia prsestabilita  between  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  nature, 
such  that  an  extraordinary  ebh,  by  the  aid  of  a 
c.jntinuous  night-storm  which  blew  against  the 
current,  laid  bare  the  whole  ford  for  the  entire 
passage  of  all  the  people  of  Israel  with  their 
flocks,  and  that  an  equally  violent  wind  from 
the  opposite  direction  might  have  made  the  flood, 
hitherto  restrained,  a  high  tide,  which  must 
have  buried  Pharaoh.  He  who  in  all  this  sees 
only  a  natural  occurrence  will  of  course  even 
press  the  letter  of  the  symbolic  expression,  that 
the  water  stood  up  on  loth  sides  like  a  wall.f 

Ver.  3.  For  Pharaoh  will  say. — We  must 
here  remember  the  law  regulating  the  writing 
of  theocratic  history,  according  to  which,  as  the 
record  of  religious  history,  it  puts  foremost  the 
divine  purpose,  and  passes  over  the  human  mo- 
tives and  calculations,  by  means  of  which  this 
purpose  was  effected,  yet  without  leaving,  in 
the  spirit  of  an  abstract  supernaturalism,  such 
motives  out  of  the  account.  Here,  accordingly, 
Moses  cannot  from  the  first  have  had  the  inten- 
tion, in  marching  to  the  Red  Sea,  of  alluring 
Pharaoh  to  the  extreme  of  obduracy,  and  thereby 
into  destruction.  But  he  may  well  have  antici- 
pated that  Pharaoh,  pursuing  him  on  the  high- 
way around  the  sea,  might  be  quite  as  danger- 
ous to  him  as  a  collision  with  the  Philistines. 
As  one  long  acquainted  with  the  Red  Sea,  he 
saw  only  a  single  means  of  deliverance,  viz.,  the 
taking  advantage  of  the  ebb  for  his  people,  who 
then  by  means  of  the  returning  flood  could  get 


*  [Ilengstenljerg  alfio,  Jli-t^n 
mcr,  etc..  in°ri'g'irl  to  tlui  pli 
tbat  D'Tp  UL-ver  diL..t.  s  liu\ 


the  literal, 
le  siipernatu 

ment  in  the  apparently  natunil  ph'-nomena,  would  hl60  be 
iiiialile  to  discfru  in  tlio  Bililic-al  Ptyl»  the  poetiio-symbolio 
plf^nicMit,  an't  bo,  whether  accepting  the  BibliGil  etatementa 
or  nt,  would  underrtaud  thcui  only  in  their  most  lileril, 
prusa,<;8eu6e.-T^.J. 


CHAP.  XIII.  17— XIV-3I. 


49 


a  long 


ahead  of  Pharaob,  in   en 


he 


follow  them.  So  far  human  calculation 
could  reach  ;  but  it  received  a  splendid  trans- 
formation through  the  Spirit  of  revelation,  who 
disclosed  to  the  prophet,  together  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  deliverance,  the  ultimate  object  of  this 
form  of  deliverance,  viz.,  the  final  judgment  on 
Pharaoh,  which  was  yet  to  be  inflicted.— They 
are  bewildered  in  the  land. — The  round- 
about way  from  Eihara  to  the  sea  might  seem 
Iik»  an  uncertain  marching  hither  and  thither. 
—The  wilderness  hath  shut  them  in.— 
They  cannot  go  through,  and  are  held  fast.  The 
section  vers.  1-4  is  a  comprehensive  summary. 

Ver.  5.  That  the  people  fled.— This  state- 
ment probably  preceded  I'haraoli's  judgment, 
that  the  people  wished  to  flee,  but  were  arrested. 
So  much  seemed  to  be  proved,  that  they  were 
not  thinking  only  of  a  three  days'  journey  in 
the  wiIderne9^  in  order  to  hold  a  festival. — The 
heart  of  Pharaoh  .  .  .  was  turned. — Pha- 
raoh may  have  been  stirred  up  alike  by  the 
thought  of  a  fleeing  host,  and  by  that  of  one 
wandering  about  helplessly.  For  they  seemed 
to  be  no  longer  a  people  of  God  protected  by 
God's  servants,  but  smitten  at  the  outset,  and 
doomed  to  slavery.  But  the  king  and  his  cour- 
tiers needed  to  use  an  imposing  military  force 
in  order  to  bring  them  back,  seeing  they  were 
at  least  concentrated  and  armed.  All  the  more, 
inasmuch  as  his  pledge,  their  right,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  perjury,  determined  the  tyrant  to 
assume  the  appearance  of  carrying  on  war 
against  them.  Whatever  distinction  may  in 
other  cases  be  made  between  camping-places 
and  days'  journeys,  the  three  stations,  Succoth, 
Elham  and  Pi-hahiroth,  doubtless  designate 
both,  that  there  may  be  also  no  doubt  concern- 
ing Pharaoh's  injustice.*  Useless  trouble  has 
been  taken  to  determine  when  Pharaoh  received 
(he  news,  and  pursued  after  the  Israelites;  also 
where  he  received  the  news,  whether  in  Tanis  or 
elsewhere.  According  to  Num.  xxxiii.  7  they 
pitched  in  Pihahirof h ;  but  this  was  probably  not 
limited  to  an  encampment  for  anight.  Here  then 
after  three  days'  journey  they  were  to  celebrate  a 
feast  of  Jehovah  in  the  wilderness  in  a  much 
higher  sense  than  they  could  before  have  ima- 
gined. 

Vers.  (5,  7.  And  he  made  ready  his  cha- 
riot.— The  grote.^que  preparations  made  by  hea- 
then powers  are  described  in  detail,  as  if  with 
a  sort  of  irony.  So  the  arming  of  Goliath,  1 
Sam.  xvii  ,  comp.  also  2  Chron.  xxxii.  ;  Dan.  iv. 
and  V.  Knobel,  in  a  droll  manner,  puts  together 
Pharaoh's  army,  from  the  several  narratives  of 
the  Elohist  and  the  Jehovist— D'B^'Stf,  "Three 
men."  "On  the  Assyrian  chariots  one  and  two 
persons  are  represented,  but  sometimes  three 
(Layard,  Nineveh,  Fig.  10,  61)"   [Knobel]. 

Ver.  8.  And  Jehovah  hardened.— Not  a 
repetition  of  ver.  4.  There  we  have  the  sum- 
mary pre-announcement,  here  the  history  itself. 


[I  e.  Pharaoh  mi 
three  liavs  throueh  which 
I  is  an  utiaaff.  and  inconclugi 


ppos 


pirations  for  pnranit  before  the  tlit'i-  h 
tliou^h  it  may  have  been  longer  than  t 
pursued  the  fugitives.— Tr.]. 


Over  against  Pharaoh's  obduracy  (which  here 
also  is  represented  as  efi"ected  by  Jehovah,  be- 
cause occasioned  by  Israel's  seemingly  bewil- 
dered flight,  because  Jehovah  by  the  appearance 
of  the  impotence  of  Israel  brought  this  judgment 
of  blindness  upon  him)  is  raised  the  high  hand 
of  Jehovah;  the  divine  sovereignty,  which  Pha- 
raoh, to  his  own  destruction,  failed  to  recognize, 
has  decided  in  favor  of  Israel's  deliverance. 

Vers.  10-1-'.  The  children  of  Israel  lifted 
up  their  eyes. — Their  condition  seemed  to  be 
desperate.  On  the  east,  the  sea;  on  the  south, 
the  mountains;  on  the  north-west,  the  host  of 
Pharaoh.  True,  they  cried  unto  the  Lord:  but 
the  reproaches  which  they  heap  upon  Moses 
show  that  the  coufidence  gf  genuine  prayer  is 
wanting,  or  at  least  is  disappearing. — No 
graves  in  Egypt. — As  Egypt  was  so  rich  in 
sepulchral  monumeuts  and  worship  of  the  dead, 
this  expression  has  a  certain  piquancy;  it  also 
expresses  the  thought  that  they  saw  death  before 
their  eyes. — Is  not  this  the  word? — Here  ho 
has  the  foretoken  of  all  similar  experiences 
which  be  is  to  encounter  in  leading  the  people. 
The  exaggeration  of  their  recollection  of  a 
doubt  formerly  expressed  reaches  the  pitch  of 
falsehood. 

Vers.  13,  14.  Over  against  the  despondent 
people  Moses  appears  in  all  the  heroic  courage 
of  his  confidence. 

Ver.  15.  'Wherefore  criest  thou  unto 
me? — The  Israelites  cried  to  Jehovah,  and 
Jehovah  did  not  hear  them.  Moses  outwardly 
was  silent;  but  Jehovah  heard  how  he  inwardly 
cried  to  Him.  The  confidence,  therefore,  which 
he  displayed  to  the  people  was  founded  on  a 
fervent  inward  struggle  of  spirit.  While  there- 
fore Jehovah's  word  is  no  reproof,  there  is 
something  of  a  contrast  in  what  follows:  Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  etc.  That  is:  No 
further  continuance  of  the  spiritual  struggle; 
forward  into  the  Red  Sea ! 

Ver.  IG.  And  lift  thou  up  thy  rod.— The 
miraculous  rod  is  for  the  present  still  the  banner 
of  the  people.  It  marks  the  foresight  of  Moses, 
his  confidence,  and  the  sacramental  union  of  the 
divine  help  with  this  sign.  Or  shall  we  take 
this  also  literally:  "while  Moses  divides  the 
water  with  his  rod  "  (Keil)  ? 

Ver.  17.  I  will  harden  the  hearts  of  the 
Egyptians. — The  obduracy  which  spread  from 
Pharaoh  over  the  whole  host  was  brought  on  by 
the  strong  fascination  of  overtaking  a  fugitive 
people  and  by  the  miraculous  condition  of  things 
on  the  sea. — I  will  get  me  honor. — God's 
miraculous  sway  was  to  become  manifest  as  His 
just  judgment. 

Ver.  19.  The  angel  of  God.— He  is  the 
angel  of  Elohim  for  the  Egyptian  heathen.  The 
invisible  movement  of  the  angel  was  recognized 
in  the  visible  motion  of  the  pillar  of  cloud. 

Ver.  20.  Darkness,  but  it  lightened  the 
night. —  AVhat  the  pillar  of  clou<l  at  other 
times  was  alternately,  it  was  this  time  si- 
multaneously :  darkness  for  the  one,  light  for 
the  other.  The  direction  of  the  smoke  under 
the  north-east  wind  is  not  sufficient  to  explain 
the  symbolically  highly-significant  phenomenon. 
That  which  gives  light  to  the  believers  consti- 
tutes  nocturnal   darkness  for  the  unbelievers; 


50 


and  that  is  the  irremovable  barrier  between 
the  two.  The  Egyptians  are  unable  for  the 
whole  night  to  find  the  Israelites ;  all  night  long 
the  east  wind  blows,  and  dries  the  sea,  and  in 
the  same  night  the  passage  of  the  Israelites 
through  the  sea  began,  and  was  finished  in  the 
morning. 

Ver.  :il.  East  wind.— The  east  wind,  D'"1j^, 
under  which  term  the  south-east  and  north-east 
wind  may  be  included,  inasmuch  as  the  Hebrew 
language  has  developed  special  terms  only  for 
the  four  cardinal  points.  The  notion  that  a 
simple  east  wind  could  have  divideil  the  waters 
to  the  right  and  left,  as  Von  Raumer  and  Keil 
hold,  implies  that  the  wind  itself  was  a  simple 
product  of  miraculous  power.  A  mere  natural 
east  wind  would  have  driven  the  water  which 
remained  against  the  Israelites.  And  this  all 
the  more,  the  more  the  wind  operated,  as  Keil 
says,  "with  omnipotent  power:"  but,  apart 
from  that,  it  would,  merely  as  an  opposite  wind, 
alone  have  made  it  almost  impossible  for  the 
Israelites  to  proceed.  The  notion  of  such  a 
wind  enables  us  to  hold  fast  the  literal  assertion 
that  the  water  stood  up  on  the  north  side  also 
like  a  wall,  although  in  regard  to  the  phrase 
"like  a  wall"  religious  poetry  and  symbolism 
must  be  allowed  to  have  a  word.  Keil's  quota- 
tions from  Tischendorf  and  Schubert  point  to 
the  natural  substratum  of  the  miracle.  See  also 
Knobel,  p.  149.  "How  wide  the  gulf  was  in 
the  places  made  bare,  cannot  be  exactly  deter- 
mined. At  the  narrowest  place  above  Suez  it  is 
now  only  two-thirds  of  a  mile  wide,  or  according 
to  Niebuhr  34-50  [German]  feet,  but  was  proba- 
bly formerly  wider,  and  is  also  at  present  wider 
farther  up,  opposite  Tell  Kolzum  (Robinson,  p. 
81  and  71).  The  place  where  the  Israelites 
crossed  must  have  been  wider,  since  otherwise 
the  Egyptian  army  with  more  than  six  hundred 
chariots  and  many  horsemen  could  not  have 
been  overtaken  and  destroyed  by  the  return  of 
the  water"  (Keil).  According  to  Tischendorf 
{Reise  I.,  p.  183),  it  is  the  north-east  wind  which 
still  serves  to  increase  the  ebb-tide.  When  a 
strong  north-west  wind  drives  the  floods  south- 
ward, one  can  cross  the  gulf;  but  if  the  wind 
changes  to  the  south-east,  it  drives  the  water 
northward,  so  that  it  then  rises  to  a  height  of 
from  six  to  nine  feet  (see  Schubert,  Reise  II.,  p. 
269;  Dobel,  Wanderungen  11. ,  p.  12;  Knobel,  p. 
149). 

Vers.  24,  25.  Out  of  the  pillar  of  cloud 
and  fire. — Without  this  addition,  we  should  have 
to  understand  the  efi'ect  to  be  purely  supernatu- 
ral.    But  since  it  is  said :  out  of  the  pillar  of 


cloud  and  fire,  this  must  in  some  way  have  been 
made  by  Jehovah  a  token  of  terror  to  the  Egypt- 
ians. It  may  be  conjectured  that,  instead  of 
cloudy  darkness,  the  pillar  of  fire,  when  the  fur- 
ther shore  was  reached,  appeared  to  the  Egypt- 
'  ians  as  a  lofty  body  of  light,  and  brought  conf'u- 
,  sion  into  the  Egyptian  ranks,  especiallv  by  its 
I  movement.  So  Keil.  Josephus  (Ant.  II.  16,  3) 
I  and  RosenmuUer  understand  thunder  and  light- 
!  ning  to  be  meant,  according  to  Ps.  Ixxvii.  18. 
Keil  regards  a  thunder-shower  as  something  too 
slight  in  comparison  with  the  fiery  glance  of 
Jehovah.  But  compare  Ps.  xviii.  and  Ps.  xxix. 
Here,  however,  only  the  pillar  of  smoke  and  fire 
is  spoken  of.  Fear  now  arises  with  the  confu- 
sion, and  with  the  fear  new  confusion,  as  so 
often  happened  in  the  history  of  the  enemies  of 
Israel.  Comp.  Judg.  vii.  21  sqq. ;  1  Sam.  xiv. 
20;  2  Kings  iii.  20  sqq. 

Ver.  26.  Stretch  out  thy  hand. — Again  the 
prophetico-symbolic  action,  with  an  opposite  re- 
sult. And  again  is  the  wind  in  league  with  Is- 
rael, this  time  to  destroy  the  Egyptians.  Vid. 
Ch.  XV.  10.  That  can  only  mean  tliat  the  wind, 
in  accordance  with  God's  sovereign  control, 
changed  to  the  south,  in  order  miraculously  to 
increase  the  flood  now  released.  According  to 
Keil,  the  wind  now  blew  from  the  west.  But  if 
the  east  wind  made  a  dry  path  for  the  Jews, 
without  reference  to  the  ebb,  we  should  expect 
that  the  west  wind  would  have  made  a  path  for 
the  Egyptians.  According  to  Keil,  we  are  also 
to  assume  that  the  host  perished  "  to  the  last 
man."  But  generally  in  this  sphere  of  dynamic 
relations  the  important  point  is  not  that  of  abso- 
lute universality,  but  that  of  thorough  efi'ective- 
ness. 

On  the  traces  of  the  passage  through  the  Red 
Sea  in  heathen  legends  and  secular  history, 
especially  in  Diodorus  of  Sicily  (III.  39),  in 
Justinus  (xxxvi.  2),  in  Artapanus,  quoted  by 
Eusebius,  see  the  monograph  of  K.  H.  Sack, 
"Die  Lieder  in  den  historiichen  Bdchern  des  Alien 
Testaments,"  p.  51.* 


*  ["Diodoms  of  Sicily,  who  had  been  in  Egypt  shortly 
before  the  birth  ot  Christ,  tells  of  a  saying  prevalent  among 
the  Ichthyophagi,  a  people  on  the  east  ot  the  Ariibian  Gnl^ 
to  the  effect  that  the  whole  gulf  once  became  diy,  and  that 
there  then  followed  a  violent  flood.  Justinae,  the  Roman 
historian,  who  drew  from  an  oldrr  simrce,  reiati'^  tliat  the 
Egyptians  pursued  Moses  and  tin-  Im;i'  lit  -,  1  i;t  -. .  v  fiirced 
to  return  by  a  violent  thunder-tliM-,',.  !       (:-   'i-   ■'      Ihris- 


1  L'hi: 


quotes  from  Artapanus,  a  Greek  ui  ;  ■  1  >iime 

time  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  wh.i  1  1  1  I-  III-  th  j-riest8 
at  Memphis  had  a  saying  about  DIost-s  ).eiD{ia'-4iianitP(l  with 
the  ebbs  and  floods,  and  that  the  priests  at  Ileliopolis  had 
one  about  Moses  miraculously  smiting  the  waters  with  his 
rod,  and  the  consequent  destruction  of  the  Egyptians."  Sack, 
L  c-Te.] 


CHAP.  XV.  1-21. 


B.— THE  SONG  OF  TRIUMPH. 
CHAPiEa  XV.  1-21.* 

1  Thex  sang  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  this  song  unto  Jehovah,  and  said : 

I  will  sing  unto  Jehovah,  for  he  is  highly  exalted  ;^ 
The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 

2  My  strength  and  my  song  is  Jah,  and  he  hath  become  my  salvation. 
He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  glorify  him. 

My  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 

3  Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war,  Jehovah  is  his  name. 

4  Pharaoh's  chariots  and  his  host  hath  he  cilst  into  the  sea ; 
And  his  choicest  captains  were  plunged  into  the  Red  Sea. 

5  The  floods  cover'  them,  they  went  down  into  the  depths  like  a  stone. 

6  Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah,  glorious  in  strength. 

Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah,  dasheth^  enemies  in  pieces. 

7  And  in  the  greatness  of  thy  majesty  thou  overthrowest  tliy  foes ; 
Thou  sendest  out  thy  wrath,  it  consumeth  them  as  stubble. 

8  And  with  the  blast  of  thy  nostrUs  the  waters  were  heaped  up ; 
Fixed  like  a  dam  were  the  waters. 

The  floods  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

9  Said  the  enemy :  I  will  pursue,  overtake,  divide  ."spoil ; 
My  lust  shall  be  sated  with  them  ; 

I  will  draw  ray  sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  them. 

10  Thou  blewest  with  thy  breath,  the  sea  covered  them; 
They  sank  like  lead  into  the  mighty  waters. 

11  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  Jehovah,  among  the  gods? 
Who  is  like  unto  thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 
Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders? 

12  Thou  stretchedst  out  thy  right  hand,  the  earth  swalloweth  them. 

13  Thou  k'ddest  forth  in  thy  mercy  the  people  that  thou  hast  redeemed ; 
Thou  guidedst  them  by  thy  power  unto  thy  holy  habitation. 

14  Peoples  heard,  they  tremble  ; 

Anguish  took  hold  of  the  inhabitants  of  Philistia. 

15  Then  the  chiefs  of  Edom  were  dismayed ; 

The  mighty  ones  of  Moab — trembling  taketh  hold  of  them  ; 
All  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  melted  away. 

16  Fear  and  dread  fall  upon  them  ; 

By  the  greatness  of  thine  arm  they  are  still  as  a  stone ; 

TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

*  [Ver.  1.  There  seems  to  be  do  warrant  for  the  rendering  of  the  A.  V. :  "He  hath  triumphed  gloriously."  nXJ,  in 
the  other  three  passages  (Job  viii.  11 ;  x.  16;  Ezek.  xlvii.  5)  in  which  it  is  used,  has  clearly  the  meaning  "rise,"  "grow 
large."  The  adjective  HX^  means  "high,"  or  "high-minded,"  "proud."  The  renderings  of  the  LXX.  and  Vulg.,  are 
better  than  that  of  the  A.  V.,  viz.,  ei-Sofu?  yotp  ivSo^aarai,  and  "gjoriose  eiiim  inagnijicalm  €*(." — Tr.]. 

2  (Ver.  6.  W;D5'  is  a  peculiar  form,  10  for  iO  (only  here),  and  VOD'  for  100\  as  not  unfrequently  in  pause.  The 
A.  V.  here  as  in  several  cases  afterwards  in  this  chapter,  quite  neglects  the  alternation  of  tenses.  The  Imperfect  is  best 
rendered  by  our  present.— Tr.]. 

3  [Ver.  6.  Here  too  the  force  and  life  of  the  original  require  the  present  tense ;  the  statement  is  general  rather  than 
specific.    3*ix,  being  without  the  article,  may  be  understood  collectively. — Tr.]. 

1  without  indicating  in  what  particulars  it  differs  from 


EXODUS. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

A  list  of  treatises  on  this  theme  is  given  by 
Knobel,  p.  1.52.  To  it  may  be  ailjed  the  ex- 
haustive monograph  of  K.  H.  Sacls,   Die  Lieder 


Silchern  des  Alien  Testaments, 
ngh  the  Red  Sea,  as  a  fundi 


Till  thy  people  pass  over,  Jehovah, 

Till  the  people  pass  over  whom  thou  hast  purchased. 

17  Thou  shalt  bring  them  iu,  and  plant  them  iu  the  mountain  of  thine  inheritance. 
The  place  which  thou  hast  made  for  thy  dwelling.  Jehovah, 

The  sanctuary.  Lord,  which  thy  hands  have  established. 

18  Jshovah  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

19  For  the  horse  [horses]  of  Pharaoh  went  in  with  his  chariots  and  with  his  horse- 
men into  the  sea,  and  Jehovah  brought  again  [back]  the  waters  of  the  sea  upon 
them  ;  but  the  children  of  Israel  went  on  dry  land  iu  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

20  And  Miriam  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aarou,  took  a  [the]   timbrel  in  her 
2i  hand ;  and  all  the  women  went  out  after  her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.     And 

Miriam  answered  [responded  to]  them.  Sing  ye  to  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  triumphed 
gloriously  [is  highly  exalted] ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the 
sea. 

for  the  collection  of  the  Psalms  shows  that  within 
the  sphere  of  revelation  such  recon.struction8 
have  taken  place.  Vid.  Ps.  xiv. ;  Ps.  liii.  Yet 
as  to  the  facts  in  the  case  before  us,  we  need  to 
look  more  carefully.  Even  ver.  13,  considered 
as  a  triumphant  prophetic  anticipation,  may  be 
reg.vrded  as  original.  The  holy  dwelling-place 
slands  in  Moses'  mind  all  complete,  after  the 
further  shore  of  the  Bed  Sea  has  been  happily 
reached  ;  whilst  the  scholastic  spirit  cannot  see 
the  holy  dwelling-place  till  the  tabernacle  or 
even  the  temple  is  a  finished  fact.  But  letting 
this  verse  pass,  without  challenge,  as  an  interpo- 
lation, and  even  also  the  second  half  of  ver.  17, 
which  as  a  whole  seems  even  to  contain  contra- 
dictory elements,  yet  the  following  verses  corre- 
spond excellently  to  the  occasion.  For  fear  of 
the  Philistines  the  circuitous  way  through  the 
Sinai  lie  desert  was  commanded;  consequently  it 
would  accord  with  psychological  laws  that  the 
Philistines  next  to  the  Egyptians  should  be  first 
in  the  thoughts  of  the  people.  With  this  is  con- 
nected the  second  thought.  The  direction  now 
taken  would  bring  them  into  collision  with  Edom 
and  Moab,  and  finally  with  Canaan:  to  this  fact 
corresponds  the  joyous  presentiment  that  Jeho- 
vah, by  this  great  fact,  has  prepared  the  way  for 
the  deliverance  of  His  people  to  the  end.  It  is 
characteristic  that  the  scholastic  spirit  throws  into 
the  scale  the  questionable  use  of  an  arohseological 
term  (t^wty),  in  opposition  to  the  internal  lead- 
ing features  of  the  song,  whicli  every  way 
suits  the  Jlosaio  period.  Thus,  here  nothing  is 
said  of  Jehovah's  righteousness,  but  the  idea  of 
His  holiness  here  for  the  first  time  comes  dis- 
tinctly out,  ver.  11.  Tliis  accords  with  the  de- 
mands of  internal  biblical  sequence:  first,  the 
El-elyon  [Most  High  God]  of  the  primeval  times 
and  of  Melchizedek;  then  the  El-sbaddai  [God 
Almighty],  the  miracle-working  God  of  Abra- 
ham; then  Jehovah  the  Holy  One  in  the  age  of 
Moses.  Also  the  prayer  in  ver.  lb  and,  in  part, 
ver.  17  [rendered  by  Lange  jussively,  "  Let  fear 
.  .  .  fall,"  etc.},  prove  that  Israel  was  still  on  the 
journey. 

Analysis  of  the  Soni;. — "The  song  may  be  di- 
vided into  three  strophes  increasing  successively 
in  length,  of  which  each  one  begins  with  the 
praise  of  Jehovah  and  ends  with  a  description  of 
the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  host,  vers.  2-5,  0- 
10,  and  11-18"  (Keil).     Knobel,  however,  makes 


in  d( 

p.  41-64. 

The  passage  th 
mental  fact  of  the  typical  kingdom  of  God, 
reaches  in  its  relations  through  all  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  referring  backwards  to  the  deluge, 
and  forwards  to  Christian  baptism,  and  finally 
to  the  last  judgment;  and  so  the  echoes  of  this 
song  of  Moses  extend  through  all  the  Scriptures. 
Preliminary  to  it  are  the  poetic  passages  of 
Genesis  and  the  blessing  of  Jacob;  following  it, 
after  some  epic  passages,  comes  the  parting  song 
of  Moses  with  his  blessings,  Deut.  xxxii  ,  xxxiii. 
Two  grand  companion-pieces,  following  this, 
Deborah's  song  of  triumph,  and  David's  song  of 
deliverance  (2  Sam.  xxii. ;  Ps.  xviii.),  introduce 
the  poetry  of  the  Psalms,  in  which  the  key-note, 
struck  by  Moses'  song,  is  heard  again.  Comp. 
Ps.  Ixxvii.,  Ixxviii.,  cv.,  cvi.,  cxiv.  Finally 
mention  is  made  again  of  the  song  of  Moses  at 
the  close  of  the  New  Testament;  its  notes  re- 
sound forward  as  the  typical  song  of  triumph  of 
the  people  of  God  even  into  the  next  world. 
Rev.  XV.  3. 

As  to  the  historical  originality  of  the  song  in 
this  place,  three  opinions  may  be  specified.  Ac- 
cording to  the  older  view,  represented  especially 
by  Kurtz  and  Sack,  the  song  is  wholly  Mosaic. 
According  to  the  modern,  critical  view,  repre- 
sented especially  by  Knobel  (Bunsen  regards  the 
Bong  of  Moses  and  Miriam  as  including  vers.  1-3; 
V.  2,  p.  147),  the  song  belongs  to  a  later  period. 
He  says  that,  according  to  ver.  17,  it  cannot  have 
originated  before  the  times  of  David  and  Solo- 
mon, for  which  view  he  adduces  also  the  phrase 
V^l'Ci,  ver.  4 ;  but  adds  that  in  its  peculiarity  it 
certainly  belongs  to  an  old  period.  This  state- 
ment involves  a  rather  distinct  contradiction. 
Bleek  [Inlrod.  I.  p.  303)  assumes  that  the  song 
in  its  original  form  was  genuinely  Mosaic,  i.  e., 
"  that  a  genuinely  Mosaic  song  lies  at  the  foun- 
dation, but  later,  as  used  by  the  people,  received 
some  addition,  or  was  in  general  somewhat 
worked  over."  This  assumption  does  not  con- 
tradict in  principle  the  spirit  of  biblical  theology ; 


CHAP.  XV.   1-21. 


the  first  strophe  consist  of  vers.  1-3  (Jehovah  as 
the  lufly  hero) ;  the  second,  vers.  4-11  (as  the 
highest  God) ;  the  third,  vers.  12-18  (as  the  King 
of  Israel).  Sacli  divides  still  differently.  The 
festive,  subjective  mood  which  produces  the  song 
(the  iniroduction  or  foundation)  is  properly  set 
off  by  ilself  in  ver.  2.  Also  vers.  3-8  may  be  taken 
togetber  as  a  magnifying  of  Jehovah's  heroism 
(which  here  makes  up  for  Israel's  unfitness  for 
warfare)  as  displayed  .against  Fharaoh.  Then 
comes  the  contrast  presented  in  the  enemy's  de- 
fiance and  defeat,  vers.  9  and  10.  Thence  fol- 
lows the  conclusion,  that  Jehovah  is  Israel's  God, 
exalted  above  all  the  gods  (religions)  of  the  hea- 
then, vers.  11-13.  To  this  is  appended  the  cele- 
bration of  the  terrifying  effect  of  this  achievement 
of  Jeliovah  on  the  heathen  people;  according  to 
Sack,  from  ver.  14  to  ver.  18.  We  regard  vers. 
17-18  as  a  concluding  prayer  belonging  by  itself. 

Especially  is  to  be  noticed  here  the  relation  of 
the  following  words.  Evidently  Miriam  here  in- 
stitutes the  antiphony,  and  that  in  the  simplest 
and  most  natural  form.  This  moment  might  be 
called  the  birth  of  the  theocratic  antiphony.  It 
corresponds  to  the  position  of  females,  that  the 
song  is  very  short,  the  refrain  of  the  song  of 
Moses,  but  ennobled  by  the  sound  of  timbrel  and 
by  the  dance,  in  which  Miriam  is  the  represen- 
tative of  the  women,  as  Moses  of  the  men. 

Vers.  1.  2.  Jehovah' s  exploit ;  TsraeVssong.  I>', 
"Strength,  might;  not  praise  an  J  glory"  (Keil). 
But  that  strength  which  the  poet  experiences, 
that  which  becomes  in  him  a  fountain  of  song, 
is  his  inspiration.  Jah,  concentration  of  the  name 
Jehovah,  perhaps  a  more  familiar  form  of  the 
awe-inspiring  name. 

Vers.  3-8.  Jehovah  as  a  tvarlike  hero  in  contrast 
with  Pharaoh. — A  man  of  war.— .\s  such  he 
had  become  Israel's  consolation  and  reliance  by 
his  annihilation  of  Egypt's  dreadful  military 
power,  which  Israel  alone  could  not  have  resisted. 
Thy  right  hand,  Jehovah  (ver.  6)  does  not 
form  a  contrast  with  what  is  said  of  Jehovah  as 
a  man  of  war,  but  is  a  further  celebration  of  the 
warlike  power  of  Jehovah  as  displayed  against 
his  foes. 

Vers.  9,  10.  Pharaoh,  Jehovah's  enemij,  as  the 
persecutor  of  Eis  people,  in  his  arrogance,  in  con- 
trast with  Jehovah. — I  will  pursue. — The  spirit 
of  the  eager  enemy  is  pictured  in  a  masterly  way 
by  the  incomplete  sentences  following  one  another 
without  the  copula.— They  sank  (plunged). 
l7Ti  is  translated  by  Knobel:  "they  whirled." 
But  lead  falling  upon  water  does  anything  but 
whirl  around.     Keil  translates  Iji  here  "sank 

into  the  depths,"  referring  to  hSiS  and  nVlJ^D, 
tbe  abyss  of  the  sea,  and  alleging  that  lead  oast 
into  water  can  neither  whir  nor  whirl.  Yet  it 
might  cause  the  peculiar  sound  of  water  desig- 
nated by  the  words  dash,  splash,  etc.  The  ques- 
tion might  be  asted,  whether  a  new  picturesque 
expression  would  not  be  preferable  to  the  repe- 
tition of  the  thought  of  ver.  5.  But  this  is  de- 
cided by  the  consideration  that  they  did  not  fall 
upon  the  water,  but  the  water  came  over  them. 

Vers.  11-13.  Jehovah  therefore  ha.%  shmrni  Himself 
to  be  the  God  of  His  people  Israel. — Who  is  like 


unto  thee. — The  germ  of  the  name  Jlichael. 
Jehovah  appears  here  as  the  exalted  God  of 
God's  people,  before  whom  the  gods  (the  hea- 
then—  and  anti-Christian— forms  of  religion) 
cannot  stand. — Who  is  like  unto  thee,  again 
in  fine  repetition,  for  now  Jehovah  is  celebrated 
as  He  who  glorifies  Himself  (or  is  glorified)  in 
holiness.  He  is  made  glorious  by  His  holiness,  by 
the  august  distinction  of  His  personality  from  all 
hostile  elements,  of  His  people  from  the  Egypt- 
ians by  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea,  of  His  light 
from  darkness.  The  passage  through  the  Ked 
Sea  has  made  manifest  tbe  holiness  of  Jehovah, 
who  henceforward  through  His  revelation  will 
sanctify  His  people,  as  was  first  typically  pro- 
mised by  the  deluge;  comp.  Ps.  Ixxvii.  14  [13].* 
— Fearful  in  praises. — The  obscure  expression 
nbnn  Sll'j  means  not  only  summe  venerandus, 
but  also  that  "man,  because  God  performs  fear- 
ful miracles,  can  sing  to  Him  praises  worthy  of 
his  wondert^ul  deeds  only  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling" (Keil).  But  can  one  sing  praises  with 
fear  and  trembling?  Yet  songs  of  praise  them- 
selves may  disseminate  fear  and  terror  in  the 
kingdom  of  darkness;  at  any  rate,  Jehovah  can 
reveal  His  dreadfulness  so  as  to  call  forth  songs 
of  praise  from  His  people.— Doing  wonders. 
— The  notion  of  the  miraculous  likewise  here 
first  appears  more  marked,  as  that  of  something 
new  and  extraordinary,  which  through  God's 
creative  power  transcends  the  extraordinary 
phenomena  of  the  ancient  natural  world. — Only 
a  stretching  out  of  His  hand,  and  the  earth  sival- 
lows  them  up.  The  words,  says  Keil,  have  no- 
thing more  to  do  with  the  Egyptians,  but  with 
the  enemies  of  the  Lord  in  gener.al,  since  the 
Egyptians  were  swallowed  by  the  sea.  But  the 
contrast  is  between  God's  outstretched  hand  in 
heaven  and  the  absolute  subordination  of  the 
whole  earth,  which  certainly  includes  the  sea. — 
In  thy  mercy. — Here  the  notion  of  grace  be- 
comes more  definite  in  connection  with  the  typi- 
cal deliverance. — Unto  thy  holy  habitation. 
— See  above.  According  to  Knobel,  this  expres- 
sion indicates  that  the  song  was  composed  at  a 
later  period.  Noticeable  is  the  expression 
V'^p  nu.  The  Red  Sea  being  the  boundary- 
line  between  Egypt  and  God's  people,  the  region 
or  pasture  (HIJ)  of  holiness  began  on  the  other 
shore  of  the  sea.  Keil  refers  the  phrase  to  Ca- 
naan, the  leading  of  the  people  into  that  land 
being  now  pledged  to  them,  so  that  the  expres- 
sion, like  many  others,  would  have  to  be  under- 
stood in  a  prophetic  sense. 

Vers.  14-16.  The  terrifying  effect  of  this  exploit 
of  Jehovah  among  the  heathen. — Even  the  singers 
at  the  Red  Sea  could  proclaim  this  effect  as  an 
accomplished  fact.  Rumors  of  wars  and  victo- 
ries even  in  the  East  circulate  rapidly,  and  the 
facts,  through  the  reports,  assume  an  imposing 
form.  FiW.  Josh.  ii.  9;  ix.  9.  The  ramification 
of  this  effect  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  the 
plan  of  the  journey,  comp.  Num.  xx.  18  sqq. ; 
xxi.  4;   Dent.  ii.  3,  8.      See   above.— Still   as 


*  [Where  ty'lpS.  the  same  expreasioa  which  in  Ex.  iv, 
11  is  rendered' "in  holiness,"  is  in  the  A.  V.  Incorrectly 
rendered  "in  the  sanctuary." — Te.] 


a  stone.— D31  may  mean  either  to  stand  still, 
or  to  be  rigid  and  silent.  We  regard  the  first 
sense  as  the  more  probable.  As  Israel  must 
march  among  the  stones  of  the  wilderness,  bo  he 
wishes  also  to  march  through  the  nations  clean 
to  his  goal.  To  this  refers  also  the  two-fold 
"^^.r.!""^^  ["pass  over"],  which  Knobel  refers 
to  the  crossing  of  the  Jordan — a  proof  of  the 
degree  of  senselessness  to  which  modern  criti- 
cism can  attain  in  its  prejudices. 

Vers.  17,  18.  Concluding  prayer  and  doxolngij. — 
A  part  of  ver.  17,  as  an  original  conclusion, 
could  not  be  at  all  dispensed  with. — Thou  shalt 
bring  them  in. — According  to  Knobel,  the 
futures  are  preterites  (!);  according  to  Keil, 
they  should  not  be  read  as  wishes,  but  as  simple 
predictions.  Predictions  in  reference  to  Jeho- 
vah's actions! — In  the  mountain  of  thine 
inheritance. — According  to  Knobel,  this  is  the 
mountain-region  of  Canaan  ;  according  to  Keil, 
the  mountain  which  Jehovah  had  chosen,  by  the 
offering  of  Isaac  (Gen.  xxii.),  as  his  dwelling- 
place,  his  sanctuary,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  54.  There  is 
no  ground  for  regarding  this  expression  as  a 
vaticinium  post  eventum  ;  it  seems,  however,  also 
very  one-sided  to  refer  the  prophecy  directly  to 
the  definite  locality  of  the  sanctuary  on  Moriah. 
How  long  the  t.ibernacle  first  stood  in  Shiloh, 
how  often  the  ark  changed  its  place !  In  sym- 
bolical language  a  mountain  is  a  secure  height 
on  which  the  people  of  Israel,  Jehovah's  posses- 
sion, gained  a  firm  lodgment.  The  centre  of 
this  mountain  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Jehovah  ;  on  the  other,  the  sanctuary 
of  the  Lord  ('ns)  for  His  people.  The  brief 
concluding  sentence  forms  a  worthy  close;  a 
simple  expression  of  unlimited  confidence: 
Jehovah  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 


Vers.  19,  20.  Transition  to  the  antiphimy  of 
Miriam. — The  horses  of  Pharaoh. — Keil  un- 
derstands that  Pharaoh  rode  on  his  horse  in 
front  of  the  army.  But  this  is  neither  ancient 
nor  modern  custom.  Moreover,  D'D  evidently 
refers  to  chariots  and  horsemen. — The  pro- 
phetess.— "Not  ob poeticam  et  musicam  faculta- 
tem  (Rosenmiiller),  but  on  account  of  her  pro- 
phetic gilts  "  (Keil).  It  is  not  well  to  distinguish 
the  two  kinds  of  emtowment  within  the  theocracy 
so  sharply,  in  so  far,  that  is,  as  the  question  of 
endowment  is  concerned.  —  The  sister  of 
Aaron. — So  in  Num.  xii.  1-6,  where,  together 
with  Aaron,  she  takes  sides  against  Moses. 
According  to  Kurtz,  she  is  so  called  because  she 
was  co-ordinate  with  Aaron,  but  subordinate  to 
Moses.  She  stood,  as  the  leader  of  Jewish  wo- 
men, appropriately  by  the  side  of  the  future 
conductor  of  the  religious  service.  According 
to  the  New  Testament,  it  was  also  customary  to 
name  younger  children  after  the  older  ones  (e.g. 
Judas  of  James). — The  timbrel  in  her  hand. 
— The  tabor,  tambourine. — And  with  dances. 
— Here  first  appears  the  religious  dance,  intro- 
duced by  Miriam  with  religious  festivities,  but 
probably  not  without  Aaron's  influence.  The 
frequent  occurrence  of  this  dance  is  seen  from  a 
concordance.* 

Ver.  21.  Sing  ye  to  Jehovah. — From  this 
derives  the  aniiphony  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
New  Testament,  e.  g.  Judg.  xi.  34;  1  Sam.  xviii. 
6;  xxi.  11;  xsix.  5.  Is  not  the  occasion  great 
enough  in  itself,  that  the  orgin  of  the  antiphony 
should  have  been  looked  for  in  Egypt?  For  tho 
rest,  vid.  on  the  ancient  Egyptian  female  dancers 
with  tambourines,  Keil,  Archdologie,  I  137, 
Note  8. 


fAcconiitig  to  somo,  the  word  here  : 
ly  denotes  a  musical  instrument  used 
ce3.  So,  e.g,.  Prof.  Murks  in  SmitL 
.  Ed.,  p.  saa.— Ta.J. 


Ddered  "dances" 
Bible  Dictionary^ 


FIFTH    SECTION. 

The  journey  through  the  wilderness  to  Sinai.  'Want  of  water.  Marah.  Elim.  The 
■Wilderness  of  Sin.  Quails.  Manna.  Rephidim  (Massah  and  Meribah).  The 
Amalekites.    Jethro  and  his  advice,  a  human  prelude  of  the  divine  legislation. 

Chap.  XV.  22— XVIII.  27. 

THE   STATIONS   AS   FAR   AS   SINAI. 

1.  JMarah. 

Chapter  XV.  22-26. 

22  So  [And]  Moses  brought  Israel  from  the  Red  Sea,  and  they  went  out  into  the 
wildernes.s  of  Sliur ;  and  they  went  three  days  in  the  wiklerness,  and  found  no 

23  water.  And  when  they  came  to  Marah,  they  could  not  drink  of  the  [drink  the] 
waters  of  Marah,  for  they  lucre  bitter ;  therefore  the  name  of  it  was  called  Marah. 

24,  25  And  the  people  murmured  against  Moses,  saying,  What  shall  we  drink  ?  And 
he  cried  unto  Jehovah,  and  Jehovah  showed  him  a  tree,  which,  when  he  had  cast 
[and  he  cast  it]  into  the  waters,  the  [and  the]  waters  were  made  sweet:  there  he 

26  made  for  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance,  and  there  he  proved  [tried]  them.  And 


CHAP.  XV.  22— XVIII.  27. 


said,  If  thou  wilt  diligently  [indeed]  hearken  to  the  voice  of  Jehovah  thy  God, 
and  wilt  do  that  which  is  right  in  his  sight,  and  wilt  give  ear  to  his  command- 
ments, and  keep  all  his  statutes,  I  will  put  none  of  these  [the]  diseases  upon  thee, 
which  I  have  brought  [put]  upon  the  Egyptians :  for  I  am  Jehovah  that  healeth 
thee. 

2.  Elim.     Chap.  XV.  27. 
27  And  they  came  to  Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells  [fountains]  of  water,  and  three- 
score and  ten  palm  trees :  and  they  encamped  there  by  the  waters. 

3.  77je  Wilderness  of  Sin.     (The  Manna  and  the  Quails.) 
Chapter  XVI.  1-CG. 

1  And  they  took  their  journey  from  Elim,  and  all  the  congregation  of  the  children 
of  Israel  came  unto  the  wilderness  of  Sin,  which  is  between  Elim  and  Sinai,  on  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  second  month  after  their  departing  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

2  And  the  whole  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  murmured  against  Moses  and 

3  Aaron  in  the  wilderness.  And  the  children  of  Israel  said  unto  them,  Would  to 
God  [Would  that]  we  had  died  by  the  hand  of  Jehovah  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
when  we  sat  by  the  flesh-pots,  and  [flesh-pots,]  when  we  did  eat  bread  to  the  full ; 
for  ye  have  brought  us  forth  into  this  wilderness,  to  kill  this  whole  assembly  with 

4  hunger.  Then  said  Jehovah  [And  Jehovah  said]  unto  Moses,  Behold,  I  will  rain 
bread  from  heaven  for  you ;  and  the  people  shall  go  out  and  gather  a  certain  rate 
[a  daily  portion]  every  day,  that  I  may  prove  them,  whether  they  will  walk  in  my 

5  law,  or  no  [not].  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  on  the  sixth  day  they  shall  pre- 
pare that  which  they  bring  in ;  and  it  shall  be  twice  as  much  as  they  gather  daily. 

6  And  Moses  and  Aaron  said  unto  all  the  children  of  Israel,  At  even,  then  shall  ye 

7  know  that  Jehovah  hath  brought  you  out  from  the  laud  of  Egypt.  And  in  the 
morning,  then  ye  shall  see  the  glory  of  Jehovah  ;  for  that  [since]  he  heareth  your 
murmurings  against  Jehovah:  and  what  are  we,  that  ye  murmur  against  us? 

8  And  jMoses  said,  Thk  shall  be,  when  [And  Moses  said.  Since]  Jehovah  shall  give 
you  in  the  evening  flesh  to  eat,  and  in  the  morning  bread  to  the  full ;  for  that 
[since]  Jehovah  heareth  your  murmurings  which  ye  murmur  against  him,  and 
[against  him,]   what  are  we  ?  your  murmurings  are  not  against  us,  but  against 

9  Jehovah.  And  Moses  spake  [said]  unto  Aaron,  Say  unto  all  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  Come  near  before  Jehovah :  for  he  hath  heard  your  mur- 

10  murings.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Aaron  spake  unto  the  whole  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  looked  toward  the  wilderness,  and,  behold,  the 

11  glory  of  Jehovah  appeared  in  the  cloud.     And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 

12  I  have  heard  the  murmurings  of  the  children  of  Israel :  speak  unto  them,  saying, 
At  even  ye  shall  eat  flesh,  and  in  the  morning  ye  shall  be  filled  with  bread;  and 

13  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  your  God.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  at  even 
[at  even  that]  the  quails  came  up,  and  covered  the  camp :  and  in  the  morning  the 

14  dew  lay  round  about  the  host  [camp].  And  when  the  dew  that  lay  [the  layer  of 
dew]  was  gone  up,  behold,  upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness  there  lay  [the  wilderness] 

15  a  small  round  thing,  as  small  as  the  hoar  frost  on  the  ground.  And  when  the 
children  of  Israel  saw  it,  they  said  one  to  another,  It  is  manna  [What  is  this?],' 
for  they  wist  [knew]  not  what  it  was.     And  Moses  said  unto   them.  This  is  the 

16  bread  which  Jehovah  hath  given  you  to  eat  [for  food].  This  is  the  thing  which 
Jehovah  hath  commanded.  Gather  of  it  every  man  according  to  his  eating,  an 
omer  for  every  man  [a  head],  according  to  the  number  of  your  persons  ;  take  ye 

17  every  man  for  them  which  [that]  are  in  his  tents    [tent].     And  the   children  of 

18  Israel  did  so,  and  gathered,  some  more,  some  less.     And  when  they  did  mete  [And 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  fXVL  16.  N?n   [D-    Gesenius  and  Knobel  derive  m  from  po.  to  apporlion ;  FUrst  (Concordance)  from  the  San- 


scrit ^nani.  But  most  scholars,  following  the  evident  implication  of  the  narrative  itself,  regard  |rD  as  the  Aramaic  equiva- 
lent of  no.  Even  Furst  so  renders  it  in  his  "  IlltulrirU  Pracht-Bibd,"  Comp.  Michaelis,  Supplementa  ad  Lexica  Sebraica. 
— Tr.] 


they  measured]  it  witli  an  [the]  omcr,  ho  [aud  he]  that  gathered  much   had  no- 
thing over,  aud  he  that  gathered  little  had  no  lack ;    they  gathered  every  man 

19  according  to  his  eating.     And  Moses  said  [said  unto  them],  Let  no  mau  leave  of 

20  it  till  the  morning.  Notwithstanding  [But]  they  hearkened  not  unto  Moses  ;  but 
some  of  them  [and  some]  left  of  it  until  the  morning,  and  it  bred  worms,'  and 

21  stank :  and  Moses  was  wroth  with  them.     And  they  gathered   it  every  morning, 

22  every  man  according  to  his  eating :  aud  when  the  sun  waxed  hot,  it  melted.  And 
it  came  to  pass,  that  on  the  sixth  day  they  gathered  twice  as  much  bread,  two  omers 
for  one  man  [each  man]  :  and  all  the  rulers  of  the  congregation   came  and  told 

23  Moses.  And  he  said  unto  them.  This  is  that  which  Jehovah  hath  spoken.  To  mor- 
row is  the  rest  of  the  holy  sabbath  [is  a  day  of  rest,  a  holy  sabbath]  unto  Jehovah  : 
bake  th'jt  which  ye  will  bake  to-day  [bake],  and  seethe  [boil]  that  [that  which]  ye 
will  seethe  [boil];  and  that  which  [all  that]  remaineth  over  lay  up  for  you  to  be 

24  kept  until  the  morning.     And  they  laid  it  up  till  the  morning,  as  Moses  bade :  and 

25  it  did  not  stink,  neither  was  there  any  wonn  therein.  And  Moses  said.  Eat  that 
to-day  ;  for  to-day  is  a  sabbath  unto  Jehovah  :  to-day  ye  shall  [will]  not  find  it  in 

26  the  field.     Six  days  ye  shall  gather  it ;  but  on  the  seventh  day,  rvhich  is  the   [on 

27  the  seventh  day  is  a]  sabbath,  in  [on]  it  there  shall  be  none.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
that  there  went  out  some  of  the  people  on  the  seventh  day  for  to  [day  to]  gather, 

28  and  they  found  none.     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Mo?es,  How  long  refuse  ye  to  keep 

29  my  commandments  and  my  laws?  See,  for  that  Jehovah  hath  given  you  the  sab- 
bath, therefore  he  giveth  you  on  the  sixth  day  the  bread  of  two  days ;  abide  ye 

30  every  man  in  his  place,  let  no  man  go  out  of  his  place  on  the  seventh  day.     So  the 

31  people  rested  on  the  seventh  day.  And  the  house  of  Israel  called  the  name  thereof 
Manna:  aud  it  was  like  coriander  seed,  white;  and  the  taste  of  it  was  like  wafers 

32  viai/e  [like  cake]  with  honey.  And  Moses  said,  This  is  the  thing  which  Jehovah 
commandeth,  Fdl  an  omer  of  it  [An  omer  full  of  it]  to  be  kept  for  [throughout] 
your  generations ;  that  they  may  see  the  bread  wherewith  I  have  fed  you  in  the 

33  wilderness,  when  I  brought  you  forth  from  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  Moses  said 
uuto  Aaron,  Take  a  ]?ot  [basket],  and  put  an  omcr  full  of  manna  therein,  and  lay 

34  it  up  before  Jehovah,  to  be  kept  for  [throughout]  your  generations.     As  Jehovah 

35  commanded  Moses,  so  Aaron  laid  it  up  before  the  Testimony,  to  be  kept.  And 
the  children  of  Israel  did  eat  manna  [the  manna]  forty  years,  until  they  came  to 
a  land  inhabited  ;  they  did  eat  manna  [the  manna],  until  they  came  unto  the  bor- 

86  ders  of  the  land  of  Canaan.     Now  an  omer  is  the  tenth  jjaj-i  of  an  ephah. 

4.  Rephidim.     The  place  called  Massah  and  Meribah. 
Chapter  XTIl.  1-7. 

XVII.  1  And  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  the 
wilderness  of  Sin,  after  their  jourueys  [journey  by  journey],  according  to  the  com- 
mandment of  Jehovah,  and  pitched  in  Rephidim :  aud  there  was  no  water  for  the 

2  people  to  drink.  Wherefore  [And]  the  people  did  chide  with  Moses,  and  said, 
Give  us  water,  that  we  may  drink.     Aud  Moses  said  uuto  them.  Why  chide   ye 

3  with  me?  wherefore  do  ye  tempt  Jehovah?  And  the  people  thirsted  there  for 
water ;  and  the  people  murmured  against  Moses,  and  said.  Wherefore  is  this  that 
thou  hast  [Wherefore  hast  thou]  brought  us  up  out  of  Egypt,  to  kill  us  and  our 

4  children  and  our  cattle  with  thirst?  And  Moses  cried  unto  Jehovah,  saying, 
What  shall  I  do  unto  this  people?  they  be  almost  ready  to  [a  little  more,  and  they 

5  will]  stone  me.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Go  on  [Pass  on]  before  the  people, 
and  take  with  thee  of  the  elders  of  the  people;  and  thy  rod  wherewith  thou  smotest 

'  [XVI.  20.  "  And  it  bred  worms :"  D'i^Slil  D^'1.  The  Heb.  word  seems  to  be  the  Fut.  of  Dn  defectiTc-ly  written, 
and  therefore  to  mean  :  "rose  np  into  ((W  with)  wornis."  Kalisch  says,  that  the  form  D*^*1  is  nsed  instead  of  n"^"*!  to 
show  that  ifcomcs  from  7131  CO'S^l)  in  the  eeusa  of  ptt/re/i/.  So  Manrer  and  Ewald  (Gr.,  g  2S1,  ^.  Hut  it  is  doubtful 
whether  DOT  (assumed  as  tlie  root  from  which  comes  Tt"!")  "worm  ")  really  means  piUrefy  at  all.  FUret  defines  it  by 
1  be  inverting  the  natural  order  of  things  to  say,  that  the  manna  became  pntrid  with  worms; 
! consequence,  not  the  cause,  of  the  putridness.  Rosenmiillor,  Furst,  Arnheim  and  utliers  rnder  by 
,d,"  but  prob;ibl>  as  a  free  rendering  for  "  rose  up."  Do  Wette  :  da  icucJisen  Wilnner.  The  A.  V.  render- 
i  Bubitautiaily  correct  reproduction  of  the  sense. — Te.]. 


CHAP.  XV.  22— XVIII.  27 


6  the  river,  take  in  thine  [thy]  hand,  and  go.  Behold,  I  will  stand  before  thee  there 
upon  the  rock  in  Horeb  ;  and  thou  shalt  smite  the  rock,  and  there  shall  come  water 
out  of  it,  that  [aud]  the  people  may  [shall]  drink.     Aud  Moses  did  so  in  the  sight 

7  of  the  elders  of  I-rael.  And  he  called  the  name  of  the  place  Massah,  and  Meribah, 
because  of  the  chiding  of  the  children  of  Israel,  aud  because  they  tempted  Jehovah, 
saying,  Is  Jehovah  among  us,  or  not  ? 

5.  Amalek.     The  dark  side  of  heathenism, 
Ch.\pteb  XVII.  8-16. 
8,  9    Then  came  Amalek,  and  fought  with  Israel  in  Rephidim.     And  Moses  said 
unto  Joshua,  Choose  us  out  men,  and  go  out,  fight  with  Amalek:  to-morrow  I  will 

10  stand  on  the  top  of  the  hill  with  the  rod  of  God  ia  mine  [my]  hand.  So  [And] 
Joshua  did  as  Moses  had  said  to  him,  and  fought  with  Amalek  :  and  Moses,  Aaron, 

11  and  Hur  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  held 
up  his  hand,  that  Israel  prevailed :  and  when  he  let  down  his  hand,  Amalek  pre- 

12  vailed.  But  Moses' hands  ivere  heavy :  and  they  took  a  stone,  and  put  it  under 
him,  and  he  sat  thereon;  an!  Aaron  and  Hur  stayed  up  his  hands,  the  one  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  other  on  the  other  side;  and  his  hands  were  steady  until  the  going 

13  down  of  the  sun.     And  Joshua  discomfited  Amalek  and  his  people  with  the  edge 

14  of  the  sword.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  [the] 
book,  and  rehearse  [lit.  put]  it  in  the  ears  of  Joshua:  for  [that]  I  will  utterly  put 

15  [blot]  out  the  remembrance  of  Amalek  from  under  heaven.     And  IMoses  built  an 

16  altar,  and  called  the  name  of  it  Jehovah-nissi :  For  [And]  he  said.  Because  Jehovah 
hath  sworn  that  [For  a  hand  is  upon  the  throne  of  Jah  f]  Jehovah  will  have  war 
with  Amalek  from  generation  to  generation. 

6.  Kephidim  and  Jethro.     Tlie  Irighl  side  of  heathenism. 
Cn.APTEK  XVIII.  1-27. 

1  "When  [Now]  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  heard  of  all  that  God  had  done  for 
Moses,  and  for  Israel  his  people,  and  [how]  that  Jehovah  had  brought  Israel  out 

2  of  Egypt ;  Then  [And]  Jethro,  Moses'  fother-in-law,  took  Zipporah,  Moses'  wife, 

3  after  he  had  sent  her  back  [after  she  had  been  sent  away].  And  her  two  sons;  of 
which  [whom]  the  name  of  the  one  ivas  Gershom;  for  he  said,  I  have  been  an  alien 

4  [a  sojourner]  in  a  strange  land :  And  the  name  of  the  other  ivas  Eliezer ;  for  the 
God  of  my  father,  said  he,  was  mine  [my]  help,  and  delivered  me  from  the  sword 

5  of  Pharaoh:  And  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law,  came  with  his  sons  and  his  wife 
unto  Moses  into  the  wilderness,  where  he  encamped  [was  encamped]  at  the  mount 

6  of  God :  And  he  said  unto  Moses,  I  thy  father-in-law  Jethro  am  come  unto  thee, 

7  aud  thy  wife,  and  her  two  sons  with  her.  And  Moses  went  out  to  meet  his  fother- 
in-law,  and  did  obeisance,  and  kissed  him ;  and  they  asked  each  other  of  their  wel- 

8  fare ;  and  they  came  into  the  tent.  And  Moses  told  his  father-iu-law-  all  that 
Jehovah  had  done  unto  Pharaoh  and  to  the  Egyptians  for  Israel's  sake,  and  [sake] 
all  the  travail  [trouble]  that  had  come  upon  them  by  the  way,  and  how  Jehovah 

9  delivered  them.  And  Jethro  rejoiced  for  [over]  all  the  goodness  [good]  which 
Jehovah  had  done  to  Israel  whom  he  had  delivered  [in  that  he  had  delivered  them] 

10  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians.     Aud  Jethro  said,  Blessed  be  Jehovah,  who  hath 

a  fXVII.  16.  We  have  given  the  most  literal  rendering  of  this  difficolt  pas^ngo.     But  pofsiMy  *3,   inst^ii'l  of  m-^aiiing 

niKuiin-oftlie  ,  x|irp-si<m  iis.-lf  i»  verv  (l.'Ul.tliil.     The  A.  V.,  following  BOiiv  m         -i  i  :  lut 

for  this  th-n- 19  liltle -n.urul.     K-il  int.  niretn  :•' The  hand  raised  to  the  tl i    I     .         i  "nr 

asain^t  Amalek,"  i.  e.  the  hands  of  the  Isra<-lite^,  like  those  of  Moses,  must   1."  m  -■- 1   ii    ,\   .i     .       •  \  ili's 

throne,  while  Ihey  wage  war  aj^aiost  .\malek.  Others  interpret:  "Because  a  iiaiid  n-'~.  tiie  haiMi  m  iw  .viiiiu.  ivno^i  is 
against  the  throne  of  Jah,  theiefore  Jehovah  will  forever  have  war  with  Amalek."  This  interpretation  has  the  aU\antag0 
over  Eeirs  of  giving  a  more  natural  rendering  to  S^*.  which  indeed  in  a  few  cases  does  mean  "  np  to,"  hut  only  when  it 
is  (as  it  is  not  here)  connected  with  a  verh  which  requires  the  preposition  to  be  so  rendered.  Others  (perhaps  the  mtjority 
of  modern  exegetes)  would  read  DJ  ("banner"),  instead  of  03  ("throne"),  and  interpret:  '  The  hand  upon  Jehovah'a 
banner ;  Jeliov.ih  hm  war,"  etc.  This  conjecture  is  less  objectionable  than  many  attempted  improvementa  of  the  text, 
inasmuch  as  the  name  of  the  altar,  ".Tehovah-nissi  "  ("Jehovah,  my  banner"),  Beems  to  require  an  explanation,  and  would 
receiveitif  the  reading  were  03,  instead  of  03-— Ta.]. 


EXODUS. 


delivered  you  out  of  the  baud  of  the  Egyptiaus,  and  out  of  the  hand  of  Pharaoh, 

11  who  hath  delivered  the  people  from  under  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians.  Now  I 
know  that  Jehovah  is  greater  than  all   [all    the]    gods:  for    [yea],   in   the   thing 

12  wherein  they  dealt  proudly  he  was  above  [dealt  proudly  against]  them.  And 
Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law,  took  a  burnt-ofl'ering  and  sacrifices  for  God:  and 
Aaron  came,  and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat  bread  with  Moses'   father-iu-law 

13  before  God.     And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  Moses  sat  to  judge  the  peo- 
1-t  pie :  and  the  people  stood   by  Moses  from  the  morning  unto  the  evening.     And 

when  Moses'  father-in-law  saw  all  that  he  did  to  the  people,  he  said,  "What  is  this 
thing  that  thou  doest  to  the  people?     Why  sittest  thou  thyself  aloue,  and  all  the 

15  people  stand  by  thee  from  morumg  unto  even?     And  Moses  said  unto  his  father- 

16  in-law.  Because  the  people  come  unto  me  to  inquire  of  God  :  When  they  have  a 
matter,  they  come  unto  me;   and  I  judge  between  one  and  another,  and  I  do  make 

17  [I  make]  them  know  the  statutes  of  God,  and  his  laws.     And  Moses'  father-in-law 

18  said  unto  him.  The  thing  that  thou  doest  is  not  good.  Thou  wilt  surely  wear 
away,  both  thou,  and  this  people  that  is  with  thee  :  for  this  [the]  thing  is  too 
heavy  for  thee ;  thou  art  not  able  to  perform   it   thyself  [able   to   do   it]    alone. 

19  Hearken  now  unto  my  voice,  I  will  give  thee  counsel,  and  God  shall  be  [God  be] 
with  thee :  Be  thou  for  the  people  to  God-ward  [before  God],  that  thou   mayest 

20  bring  [and  bring  thou]  the  causes  [matters]  unto  God :  And  thou  shalt  teach  [And 
teach]  them  ordinances  and  laws  [the  statutes  and  the  laws],  and  shalt  shew  [and 
shew]  them  the  way  wherein  they  must  walk,  and  the  work  that  they  must  do. 

21  Moreover  [But]  thou  shalt  provide  out  of  all  the  people  able  men,  such  as  fear 
God,  men  of  truth,  hating  covetousness  [unjust  gain] ;  and  place  such  over  them, 
to  be  [as]  rulers  of  thousands,  and  [thousands,]  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of  fifties, 

22  and  rulers  of  tens :  And  let  them  judge  the  people  at  all  seasons  [times]:  and  it 
shall  be,  that  every  great  matter  they  shall  bring  unto  thee,  but  every  small  matter 
they  [they  themselves]  shall  judge :  so  shall  it  be  [so  make  it]  easier  for  thyself, 

23  and  they  shall  [let  them]  bear  the  burden  with  thee.  If  thou  shalt  do  this  thing, 
and  God  command  thee  so,  then  thou  shalt  [wilt]  be  able  to  endure,  and  all  this 

24  people  shall  also  [peoiile  also  will]  go  to  their  place  in  peace.     So    [And]    i^Ioses 

25  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  his  father  in-law,  and  did  all  that  he  had  said.  And 
Moses  chose  able  men  out  of  all  Israel,  and  made  them   heads  over  the  people, 

26  rulers  of  thousands,  rulers  of  hundreds,  rulers  of  fifties,  and  rulers  of  tens.  And 
they  judged  the  people  at  all  seasons  [times]:  the   hard   causes    [matters]    they 

27  brought  unto  Moses,  but  every  small  matter  they  judged  themselves.  And  Moses 
let  his  father-in-law  depart ;  and  he  went  his  way  into  his  own  land. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

General  Survey  of  the  Section.  Israel's  jour- 
ney from  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea  to  Mt.  Sinai. 
The  host  enters  the  wiljerness  of  Shur  (the  same 
as  the  wilderness  of  Etham),  and  its  first  camp- 
iug-place  is  by  the  bitter  waters  of  Miirah.  The 
second  is  Elim.  Next  comes  the  encampment  on 
the  Red  Sea  recorded  in  Num.  xxxiii.  Still 
later  the  entrance  into  the  wilJerness  of  Sin, 
and  the  encampment  in  it.  With  this  is  con- 
nected the  sending  of  the  manna  and  of  the 
quails.  Then  follows  the  stay  in  Rephidim  with 
three  leading  events:  the  water  from  the  rock, 
the  victory  over  Amalek,  and  Jethro's  advice 
concerning  an  orderly  judicial  system.  Accord- 
ing to  Num.  xxxiii.  it  must  be  assumed  that  the 
people  encamped  on  the  Red  Sea  just  as  they 
touched  the  wilderness  of  Sin ;  for  it  was  not  till 
after  this  that  they  entered  the  wilderness  (ver. 
11),  as  they  also  at  the  first  entered  the  wilder- 
dcrness  of  Shur,  on  the  borders  of  which  they 
found  themselves  at  the  very  outset.     Between 


the  encampment  on  the  Red  Sea  and  that  in  Re- 
phidim we  find  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  Dophkah 
and  Alush  ;  and  it  is  said  that  they  journeyed 
from  the  wilderness  of  Sin  to  Dophkah.  Knobel 
observes  that  these  two  stations,  not  mentioned 
In  Exodus,  are  omitted  because  nothing  of  his- 
torical importance  is  connected  with  them.  Also 
about  this  journey  from  Ayun  Musato  Sinai  there 
has  been  an  immense  deal  of  discussion,  as  well 
as  about  the  journey  from  Raemses  to  the  Red 
Sea.  Vid.  Robinson  I.,  p.  90,  Briim,  Israel's  Van- 
demng  von  Oosen  bis  zum  Sinai  (Elberfeld,  1859) ; 
Strauss,  Sinai  und  Oolgotha,  p.  121 ;  von  Rau- 
mer,  PaUistina,  p.  480;  Tiscbendorf,  Aus  dem 
hriligen  Lande,  p.  23;  Kurtz,  Jlistory  of  the  Old 
Covenant  III.,  p.  15sqq.;  Bunsen  V.,  2,  p.  155; 
and  the  commentaries. 

There  is  general  agreement  as  to  the  locality 
of  the  first  stations.  It  is  assumed  that  Israel, 
after  the  passage  of  the  sea,  encamped  at  Ayun 
Musa  (the  Wells  of  Moses),  opposite  the  high 
mountain  Atakah,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Red 
Sea.  The  next  camping-place,  Marah  (Bitter- 
ness), is  found  about  sixteen  and  a  half  hours,  or 


CHAP.  XV.  22— XVIII.  27. 


a  tiree  tlays'  journey  beyond,  by  the  well  Howara 
or  Hawara,  of  which  Robinson  says:  "The  basin 
is  six  or  eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  water 
about  two  feet  deep.  Its  taste  is  unpleasant, 
saltish,  and  somewhat  bitter.  .  .  .  The  Arabs... 
consider  it  as  the  worst  water  in  all  these  re- 
gions" [Pal.  II.,  p.  96).  Cf.  Seetzen  III.,  p.  117, 
and  Keil  II.,  p.  58,  who  quotes  divergent  opinions 
of  Ewald  and  Lepsius. — The  next  camping-place, 
Elim,  is  two  and  a  half  hours  further  south,  in 
what  is  now  the  Wady  Ghurundel,  with  a  beau- 
tiful vegetation  consisting  in  palms,  tamarisks, 
acacias,  and  tall  grass, — a  prominent  stopping- 
place  on  the  way  from  Suez  to  Sinai.  "The 
way  from  Howara  to  this  place  is  short,  but  the 
camping-places  of  an  army  in  march,  like  that  of 
the  Israelites,  are  always  determined  by  the  sup- 
ply of  water"  (Keil).  The  fourth  stopping-place, 
called  in  Num.  xxxiii.  10  the  one  on  the  Red  Sea, 
is  found  at  the  mouth  of  Wady  Taiyibeh  {Robin- 
son I.,  p.  105),  eight  hours  beyond  Wady  Ghu- 
rundel. From  this  point  the  route  becomes  less 
easy  to  fix.  InNura.xxxiii.il  we  read:  "They 
removed  from  the  Red  Sea,  and  encamped  in  the 
wilderness  of  Sin."  *  Hero  in  Exodus  it  is  said 
that  the  wilderness  lies  between  Elim  and  Sinai. 
This  addition  seems  designed  not  only  to  give 
the  general  direction  (since  that  would  be  quite 
superfluous),  but  to  designate  the  middle  point 
between  Elim  and  Sinai.  The  chief  question 
here  is,  whether  the  wilderness  of  Sin  as  tra- 
versed by  the  Israelites,  is  to  be  located  further 
Bouth  on  a  sea  coast,  where  the  plain  is  for  the 
most  part  a  good  hour  wide,  as  is  assumed  by 
many  (not  all,  as  Briim  says),  or  whether  the 
high  table  land  el  Debbe,  or  Debbet  en  Nash, 
with  its  red  sand  and  sand-stones,  is  to  be  taken 
for  the  Wilderness  of  Sin  (Knohel).  Accord- 
ingly, there  are  two  principal  routes,  of  which 
the  first  again  branches  into  two.  By  the  co.ist 
route  one  can  go  along  the  coast  as  far  as  Tur 
(Ewald),  and  from  that  in  a  northeast  direction 
come  to  Sinai;  or  more  directly  (i.  «.,  at  first  in 
an  inland  direction  from  the  fountain  Murklia) 
enter  through  the  wadies  Shellal  and  Badireh 
(Butera)  into  ihe  wadies  Mukatteb  and  Feiran, 
and  reach  Mt.  Horeb  (de  la  Borde,  von  Raumer, 
and  others).!  The  other  route,  the  mountain  or 
highland  route  (Burckhardt  and  others)  turns 
from  Taiyibeh  "  southeast  through  Wady  Shu- 
beikah  over  a  high  table-land,  with  the  mountain 
Sarbut  el  Jemel,  then  through  Wady  Humr  upon 


Itiasii 


Btony  witfte'-n'^ss  may  have  tlie  tliorn-buah  in  common  witli 
tlie  niarsliy  f 'ns*. 

t  [Lanirr.  omitfl  anotlior  wav  ivbirh  micht  havp  tipen  taken, 


the  wide  sandy  plain  el  Debbe,  or  Debbet  en 
Nasb "  (Keil),  and  on  through  several  wadies 
directly  to  Horeb.  For  and  against  each  of  these 
routes  much  may  be  said.  Cf  Knohel,  p.  Iti'i 
sqq. ;  Keil  II.  p.  t51.  According  to  the  latter 
view,  advocated  by  Knobel  and  Keil.  the  camp- 
ing-place in  the  wilderness  of  Sin  is  to  be  sought 
in  Wady  Nasb,  where  among  date-palms  a  well 
of  ample  and  excellent  water  is  to  be  found. 
The  second  seacoast  route  was  taken  by  Strauss 
and  Krafift  (Sinai  und  Golgotha,  p.  127).  Also 
the  last  time  by  Tischendorf  (Aua  drm  heiligen 
Lande,  p.  35).  The  same  way  is  preferred  by 
Briim  in  his  work  "  Israel's  Wanderuni/,"  etc. 
Likewise  Robinson  regards  this  as  tlie  course 
taken  by  Ihe  Israelites,  though  he  himself  look  the 
one  on  the  table-land.  To  decide  is  not  easy, 
and  is  of  little  importance  for  our  purpose.  But 
the  following  observations  may  serve  as  guides: 
(i)  If,  as  is  most  probable,  the  names  Sin  and 
Sinai  are  connected  etymologically,  this  is  an 
argument  for  the  table-land  route,  especially  as 
it  also  seems  to  lie  more  nearly  midway  between 
Elim  and  Sinai;  (2)  the  water  seems  here  to  be, 
though  less  abundant,  yet  better,  than  in  most  of 
Ihe  salty  fountains  on  the  seacoast,  whose  tur- 
bidness  also  is  easily  to  be  explained  by  its  situ- 
ation on  the  coast  (vid.  Robinson,  p.  110) ;  (3) 
on  the  table-land,  in  the  depressions  of  which  ve- 
getation w.as  everywhere  found,  there  was  cer- 
tainly better  provision  for  the  cattle  than  on  the 
seacoast,  where  they  were  often  entirely  sepa- 
rated from  pasture  land  by  mountain  barriers; 
(4)  if  the  encampment  in  the  wilderness  of  Siu 


an  encampn 


Red  Se 


preceding  encampment  could  not,  without  causing 
confusion,  be  designated  by  the  term  "on  the 
Red  Sea."  So  much  for  the  mountain  route. 
Ritter  has  argued  against  the  view  that  the  jour- 
ney was  made  on  the  table-land  through  Wady 
Nasb,  in  the  Evangelischer  Kalender.  ViJ.  Kuriz 
III.,  p.  61.  For  the  rest,  each  way  had  its  pecu- 
liar attractions  as  well  as  its  peculiar  difficulties. 
The  mountain  route  allowed  the  host  to  spread 
itself,  as  there  was  much  occasion  for  doing;  it 
presented  grand  views,  and  prepared  the  peoplo 
for  a  long  time  beforehand  for  its  destination, 
Sinai.  It  is  distinguished  by  "  the  singular  and 
mysterious  monuments  of  Surabit  el-Khadim" 
(Robinson  I.,  p.  113;  Niebuhr,  p.  235).  By  the 
way  which  runs  half  on  the  seacoast,  half 
through  the  mountains,  we  pass  through  the  re- 
markable valley  of  inscriptions,  Mukatteb,  and 
through  the  grand  valley  Feiran,  rich  in  tama- 
risks, in  whose  vicinity  lies  the  lofty  Serbal,  re- 
garded by  Lepsius  as  the  mountain  on  which  the 
law  was  given.  On  the  inscriptions  on  the 
rocks  and  cliffs  in  the  valley  Mukatteb,  see  Ti- 
schendorf, "Alls  dem  h.  Lande,"  p.  39sqq.;  Kurtz 
111.,  p.  64.  By  these  they  are  ascribed  for  the 
most  part  to  Nabatasan  emigrants  and  to  pilgrims 
going  to  attend  heathen  festivals.  On  the  "rock 
of  inscriptions"  see  also  Ritter's  reference  to 
Wellsled  and  von  Schubert,  Vol.  XIV.,  p  459. 
On  the  former  city  Faran  in  Feiran,  see  Tischen- 
dorf, p.  46.  The  camping-place  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Sin  is,  as  follows  from  the  above,  vari- 
ously fixed ;  according  to  some  it  is  the  plain  on 
the  sea  south  of  Taiyibeh,  which,  however,  must 
then  be  called  the  wilderness  of  Siu  up  to  the 


mountain  range,  if  Ihe  camping-place  is  to  be 
distinguisheil  tVom  the  one  on  ilie  Red  Sea;  ac- 
cording to  Bunsen  and  others,  the  camping-place 
was  in  the  place  called  el  Munkhah.  According 
to  others,  it  is  the  large  table-land  el  Debbe  or 
Debbet  en  Nasb.  The  camping-places  in  the  wil- 
derness of  Sin  being  indeterminate,  so  are  also  the 
two  following  ones  at  Dophkah  and  Alush  (Num. 
xxxiii.  12).  Conjectures  respecting  the  two  sta- 
tions beyond  the  wilderness  of  Sin  .are  made  by 
Kuobel,  p.  174,  and  Bunsen,  p.  156.  The  last 
station  before  the  host  arrives  at  Sinai  is  Rephi- 
dim.  This  must  have  been  at  the  foot  of  Horeb, 
for  "Jehovah  stood  on  the  rock  oh  Iloreb,  when 
He  gave  water  to  the  people  encamped  in  Rephi- 
dim  (svii.  6),  and  at  the  same  place  Moses  was 
visited  by  Jethro,  who  came  to  him  at  the  mount 
of  God"  (Knobel).  This  is  a  very  important 
point  iixed,  inasmuch  as  it  seems  to  result  from 
it,  that  Serbal  is  to  be  looked  for  north  of,  or  be- 
hind, Rephidim  and  Horeb,  but  the  Mt.  Sinai  of 
the  Horeb  range  in  the  south.  *  The  great  plain 
at  the  foot  of  Horeb,  where  the  camp  of  the  Is- 
raelites is  sought,  is  called  the  plain  er-Ralia 
(Knobel  derives  D'Ta"),  "breadth,"  "  surface," 
"plain,"  from  131,  to  be  spread). f  For  a  refu- 
tation of  Lepsius.  who  finds  Rephidim  in  Wady 
Feiran,  and  Sinai  in  Seibal,  see  Knobel,  p.  174. 
Oti  Serlinl  it.-elf  (Palm  grove  of  BanI)  vkl.  Kurtz 
III.,  p.  1)7.  Between  Serbal  and  the  Horeb  group 
lies  Wady  es-Sheikh.  From  the  mouth  of  this 
wady  towards  Horeb  the  plain  of  Rephidim  is 
thought  to  begin.  Other  assumptions:  The  de- 
file with  Moses'  seat,  Mokad  Seidna  Musa, 
or  the  plain  of  Suweiri.  Perhaps  not  very  dif- 
ferent from  tlie  last  mentioned  (vid.  Keil  II.,  p.  79; 
t<lrau«s.  p.  1:!1).  Themost  improbable  hypothesis 
identifies  Rephidim  with  Wady  Feiran  (Lepsius).}: 

1.  Marah.     Chap.  xv.  22-26. 

On  the  wilderness  of  Shur,  vld.  Keil  11.,  p.  57. 

Particulars  about  llowara  [Hawara  (Robinson), 

Hawwara  (Palmer)],  Knobel,  p.  \m.— The  bitter 

salt  water  at  Maruli.^     The  miracle  here  consists 


*  [Tlli^    i-    1 

,■     ,...M.h-n.,n-.        I,,:,.„,i,.-h    :.-    -riMl    is    not 

n..t  iiortl.  ..1    - 

;    •■!,      i     ■•■,  .,il,-   ,,,!|..|    -l.-l,;!,.!'  ?     TliC 

„,  it  conling  to  Hebrew  concei.tions,  is  in  the 

...«r.-TR.l    ° 

t  [The  tl>»or 

V  that  Rephidim  is  to  be  snusht  in  er-Raha 

I:.  :,   inovided  tlmt  by  "tbewil 

•  I  I  .  I     I    ;    ■    III  the  month  of  Nagb  Hawa. 

ilii  .1  lu.,  li,..    :       ,  I.:  ,1.  i  111  a  single  day  by  tlie  direct 

t  On  rliis  point  SIM- tln-'la.st  note.  A  good  map  of  the  whole 
if-ijiiHiila  is  to  be  found  in  Smith  and  Grove's  Atlas  of  Ancient 
;,.|,/,n,/./,y.-Tll.] 

^  '■Till--  Arabs  call  the  well  eritium,  int^ritm.  probably  in 


call  the  well  exitiv 
■T'lun  n  with  the  no'ion  that  that 
Kin[!8iv.4ni."  Kiiolii-1.     Tile  Arab"  may  make 


i  Germans  on  bad 


in  great  part  in  the  fact  that  Jehovah  showed 
Moses  a  tree  by  which  the  water  was  made  drink- 
able. That  the  tree  itself  was  a  natural  tree  is 
not  denied  by  the  strictest  advocates  of  a  literal 
interpretation.  A  part  of  the  miracle  is  to  be 
charged  to  the  assurance  of  the  prophetic  act, 
and  the  trustful  acceptance  of  it  on  the  part  of 
the  people.  Various  explanations:  The  well  was 
half  emptied,  so  that  pure  water  flowed  in  (Jo- 
sephus):  the  berries  of  the  ghurlud  shrub  were 
thrown  in  (Burckliardt).  According  to  Robin- 
son, the  Beduins  of  the  desert  know  uo  means  of 
changing  bitter  salt  water  to  sweet.  "  In  Egypt," 
as  Josephus  relates,  "bad  water  was  once  puri- 
fied by  throwing  in  certain  split  sticks  of  wood  " 
(Briim).  This  leads  to  the  question,  how  far 
the  salt  water  migiit  have  been  made  more 
drinkable  by  Moses'  dipping  into  it  a  crisp, 
branchy  shrub,  as  a  sort  of  distilling  agent. 
For  this  Ihe  numerous  clumps  of  the  ginukud 
shrub  which  stand  around  the  well,  and  whose 
berries  Burckhardt  wished  to  make  use  of,  are 
very  well  suited.  The  distillation  consists  in 
Ihe  art  of  separating,  in  one  way  or  another, 
salt,  from  water,  especially  by  means  of  brush- 
wood;  generally,  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
salt;  but  it  might  be  done  for  the  opposite  pur- 
pose of  getting  water.  In  proportion  as  a  bunch  j 
of  brushwood  should  become  incrusteJ  with  the  ■ 
sail,  the  water  would  become  more  free  from  the  I 
salt.  For  the  rest,  Robinson  observe",  concern-  | 
ing  the  water  of  the  fountain  Hawara,  "  Its 
lasle  is  unpleasant,  saltish,  and  somewhat  bitter; 
but  we  could  not  perceive  that  it  was  very  much 
worse  than  that  of  Aynn  Musa."  It  must  fur- 
ther  be  considered  that  Ihe  Jews  had  the  soft,  J 
agreeable  Nile  water  in  recollection.  Kurtz  has  I 
even  found  an  antithesis  in  the  fact  that  Moses  1 
made  the  undrinkable  water  at  Marnh  drinkable, 
as  he  had  made  the  sweet  water  of  Ihe  Nile  un- 
drinkable. We  are  here  also  to  notice  that  the 
efl'ect  of  Jloses'  act  was  not  permauent,  but  con- 
sisted only  in  the  act  itself,  Ihe  same  as  is  true 
of  the  saving  effect  of  the  sacraments  in  relation 
to  fftilb.  Here,  too,  is  another  proof  that  Moses 
had  a  quite  peculiar  sense  for  the  life  of  nature, 
a  sense  which  Jehovah  made  an  organ  of  His 
Spirit.  With  the  curing  of  the  well  Jehovah 
connected  a  fundamental  law,  stating  on  what 
condition  He  would  be  Ihe  Saviour  of  the  people. 
Briim  (p.  114)  points  out,  with  reason,  that  the 
Israelites,  in  drinking  salty  water,  which  has  a 
laxative  effect,  might  well  apprehend  that  Ihe 
much-dreaded  sicknesses  of  Egypt,  Ihe  pesti- 
lence, Ihe  small-pox,  the  leprosy,  and  the  inflam- 
mation of  the  eyes,  caused  by  the  heat  and  the 
fine  dry  sand,  together  with  the  intense  reflection 
of  light,  might  attack  them  here  also  in  Ihe  wil- 
derness, the  atmosphere  of  which  otherwise  has 
a  healing  eflFect  on  many  diseased  constitutions. 
Therefore,  in  curing  that  well,  Jehovah  esta- 
blished Ihe  chief  sanitary  law  for  Israel.  It  is 
very  definite,  as  if  from  the  mouth  of  a  very 
careful  physician  well  acquainted  with  his  case. 
General  rule:  perfect  compliance  with  Jehovah's 
direction  !  Explanation  of  it:  if  thou  doest  what 
is  right  in  His  eyes,  and  wilt  give  ear  lo  His 
commandments,  and  keep  all  His  statutes  (in  re- 
wines,  in  hyperbolical  expressions  which  are  not  to  be  taken 
literally. 


CHAP.  XV.  22— SVIII.  27 


ference  to  the  means  of  spiritual  recovery,  diet- 
etics), then  I  will  put  none  of  the  diseases 
upon  thee  which  I  have  put  upon  the 
Egyptians,  for  I  am  Jehovah,  thy  physi- 
cian.— lint  how  can  it  be  ad'led,  "and  tlicre  he 
proved  them?"  The  whole  history  has  been  a 
test  of  the  question,  whether  the  people  would 
obey  the  dii-ections  of  Jehovah  given  through 
Jlosea,  and  particularly  whelher,  after  the  sin- 
gular means  employed  by  Moses,  they  would 
drink  in  faith.  Every  test  of  faith  is  a  tempta- 
tion for  sinful  man,  because  in  his  habituation  to 
the  common  order  of  things  lies  an  incitement 
not  to  believe  in  any  extraordinary  remedy,  such 
as  seems  to  contradict  nature.  But  out  of  the 
actual  temptation  which  the  people  had  now 
pissed  through,  proceeded  this  theocratic  sani- 
tary law.  as  a  temptation  perpetually  repealing 
itself.  There  is  even  still  a  temptation  in  the 
principle  of  the  theocratic  therapeutics,  that  ab- 
solute certainly  of  life  lies  in  absolute  obedience 
to  God's  commands  and  directions.  According 
to  Keil,  the  statute  here  spoken  of  does  not  con- 
sist in  the  divine  utterance  recorded  in  ver.  2G, 
but  in  an  allegorical  significance  of  the  fact 
itself:  the  leading  of  the  Israelites  to  bitter 
water  wliich  the  natural  man  cannot  and  will 
not  drink,  together  with  the  making  of  this  water 
sweet  ami  wholesome,  is  to  be  a  pH,  tiiat  is,  a  sta- 
tute and  a  law,  showing  how  God  at  all  times  will 
lead  and  govern  His  people,  and  a  031^3,  that  ig, 
an  ordinance,  inasmuch  as  Israel  may  continu- 
ally depend  on  the  divine  help,  elc.  If  this  is  so, 
then  the  text  must  receive  an  allegorical  inter- 
pretalion  not  obviously  required. 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  question  whether,  after  the 
tremendous  excitements  through  which  the  peo- 
ple had  passed,  bitter  and  salty  water  like  that 
at  Marah,  might  not  have  been  more  beneficial 
than  hurtful  to  (hem.  Salt  water  restores  the 
digestion  when  it  has  been  disturbed  by  excite- 
ment. Notice,  moreover,  the  stiff-neokedness  or 
stubbornness  peculiar  to  the  disposition  of  slaves 
just  made  free,  as  it  gradually  makes  its  appear- 
ance and  increases.  It  was  in  their  distress  at 
Pi-hahiroth  that  they  first  gave  utterance  to  their 
moroseness:  true,  they  cried  to  Jehovali,  but 
quarrelled  with  Moses.  They  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  the  miracle  of  deliverance  wrought  in 
the  night  of  Egypt's  terror.  Here  they  even 
murmur  over  water  that  is  somewhat  poorer  than 
usunl.  The  passage  through  the  Red  Sea  and 
the  song  of  praise  seem  to  be  forgotten.  In  the 
wilderness  of  Sin  the  whole  congregation  mur- 
murs against  Moses  and  Aaron,  i.e.,  their  divinely 
appointed  leaders,  from  fear  of  impending  fa- 
mine, probably  because  the  supplies  brought 
from  Egypt  were  running  low  ; — the  ample  re- 
freshment enjoyed  at  Elim  seems  to  be  forgotten. 
In  Rephidim  they  murmur  on  account  of  want  of 
water; — the  miraculous  supply  of  manna  and 
quails  seems  to  be  forgotten.  On  the  otlier  hand, 
however,  the  wise  augmentation  of  severity  in  the 
divine  discipline  becomes  prominent.  At'  Marah 
nothing  is  said  of  any  rebuke  uttered  by  Jeho- 
vah, as  is  done  later.  Num.  xi.  14,  20.  Espe- 
cially noticeable  is  the  great  difference  between 
the  altercation  at  Marah,  in  the  wilderness  of 
Sin,  and  the  mutiny  at  Kadesh,  Num.  xx.     The 


altercation  there  is  expressly  called  a  striving 
with  Jehovah,  ver.  1.3. 

2.  Elim.  Chap.  xv.  27. 
A  fine  contrast  with  Marah  is  afforded  here, 
both  in  nature,  and  in  the  guidance  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  and  in  the  history  of  the  inner  life. 
In  Elim,  Baumgarten  and  Kurtz  find  a  place 
expressly  prepared  for  Israel,  inasmuch  as  by 
the  number  of  its  wel's  and  palm  trees  it  bears  in 
itself  the  seal  of  this  people:  every  tribe  havin» 
a  well  for  man  and  beast,  and  the  tent  of  each 
one  of  the  elders  of  the  people  (xxiv.  9)  having 
the  shade  (according  to  Baumgarten,  the  dates) 
of  a  palm-tree.  Even  Keil  finds  this  too  su- 
pernaturalistic  ;  at  least,  he  observes  that,  while 
the  number  of  the  wells  corresponds  to  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  yet  the  number  of  the 
palm  trees  does  not  correspond  to  that  of  the 
elders,  whicli,  according  to  xxiv.  9,  was  much 
(?)  greater.  On  neither  side  is  the  possibility 
of  a  symbolical  significance  in  the  numbering 
thought  of;  without  doubt,  however,  the  em- 
phasis given  to  the  number  seventy  is  as  signifi- 
cant as  that  given  to  the  number  twelve.  Keil's 
allusion  to  the  2od  Psalm  is  appropriate.  See 
particulars  about  Elim  in  Knobel,  p.  IGl ;  Tisch- 
endorf,  p.  30.* 

3.  Tlie  Wilderness  of  Sin.  Chap.  xvi.  1-36. 
Notice  first  the  aggravated  character  of  the 
murmuring.  Now  the  whole  congregation  mur- 
murs. And  not  against  Moses  alone,  but  against 
Moses  and  Aaron,  so  that  the  murmuring  is  more 
definitely  directed  a^sain^t  the  divine  commission 
of  the  two  men,  and  SI  ;rr  I  11  I  r,i>  olivine  act  of 
bringing   them    out    ni     i  ,    i      ■    is,  against 

Jehovah  Himself.  Mi  -  .,  r  ■  .  vpression  of 
a  longing  after  Egyi-t  L-jiiP,=  i:i,ic  passionate 
and  sensual.  At  first  they  longed  resignedly 
for  the  graves  of  Egypt,  in  view  of  the  danger 
of  death  in  the  desert.  The  next  time,  too,  they 
say  nothing  about  their  hankering  after  the 
Nile  water  in  view  of  the  bitter  water  of  Marah. 
But  now  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt  and  the  Egyp- 
tian bread  become  prominent  in  tljeir  imagina- 
tion, because  they  conceive  lliemselves  to  be 
threatened  with  famine.  Corresponding  to  the 
aggravation  of  the  murmuring  are  the  beginnings 
of  rebuke.  Says  Knobel,  "What  the  congre- 
gation had  brought  witli  lliem  from  Egypt 
had  been  consumed  in  llie  thirty  days  which  had 
elapsed  since  llieir  exodus  (ver.  1),  although 
the  cattle  brought  from  Egypt  (xii.  38)  had  not 
yet  all  been  slaughtered  or  killed  by  thirst  (?), 
since  after  their  departure  from  tlie  wilderness 
of  Sin  they  still  possessed  cattle  at  Rephidim, 
which  they  wished  to  save  from  thirsting  to 
death  (xvii.  3).  For  (he  herds  had  not  been 
(aken  merely  to  be  at  once  slaughtered;  and 
meat  could  not  take  the  place  of  bread.  In  (heir 
vexadon  (he  people  wish  (hat  they  had  died  in 
Egypt,  while  filling  themselves  from  tlie  flesh- 
pots,  'by  the  hand  of  Jehovah,'  /.  <■.,  in  (he  last 
plague  inflicted  by  Jehovah  upon  Egypt,  rather 
than   gradually  to  starve  to   death   here  in  the 


*  [Wilson.  (Lanit  of  llie  Bih!e.  Vol.  I.,  p.  1741,  woul.I  i.lel 
lify  with  Elim,  not  Wady  Gliiinmilcl.  Imt  Wii.ly  w  iis.- 
.Usoit),  five  or  six  miles  south  ut  Wtiily  Gliuruiidel.— Te.]. 


62 


wilderness."  In  the  verb  used  (p7  Nipli.)  is 
expressed  a  murmuring  just  passing  over  into 
contumacy.  Yet  here  too  Jehovah  loolis  with 
compassion  upon  the  hard  situation  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  heuce  regards  their  wealsneaa  with 
indulgence. 

The  natural  substratum  of  the  double  miracle 
of  feeding,  now  announced  and  brought  to  pass, 
is  found  in  the  food  furnished  by  tlie  desert  to 
nomadic  emigrants.  The  manna  is  the  miracu- 
lous representative  of  all  vegetable  food;  the 
quails  denote  the  choicest  of  anim.al  prey  fur- 
nished by  the  desert.  The  first  element  in  the 
miracle  is  here  too  the  prophetic  foresight  and 
assurance  of  Moses.  The  second  is  the  actual 
miraculous  enhancement  of  natural  phenomena  ; 
the  third  is  here  also  the  trustful  acceptance  of 
it:  the  miracle  of  faith  and  the  religious  mani- 
festation answering  to  it.  The  ultra-superna- 
(uralistic  view,  it  is  true,  is  not  satisfied  with 
this.  It  holds  to  a  diiferent  manna  from  that 
provided  by  God  in  nature,  and  ought,  in  con- 
sistency, to  distinguish  the  quails  miraculously 
given  from  ordinary  quails. 

In  this  case,  too,  the  trial  of  faith  was  to  be  a 
temptation  (ver.  4),  to  determine  whether  the 
people  would  appropri.ate  the  miraculous  blessing 
to  themselves  in  accordance  with  the  divine  pre- 
cept, and  so  recognize  Jehovah  as  the  giver,  or 
whether  they  would  go  out  without  restraint 
and  on  their  own  responsibility  to  seize  it,  as  if 
in  a  wild  chase.  Here,  therefore,  comes  in  the 
establishment  of  the  fundamental  law  concerning 
the  healing  of  life ;  and  this  is  done  by  the  or- 
daining of  the  seventh  day  as  a  day  of  rest,  tlie 
Sabbath.  As  man,  when  given  over  to  a  merely 
natural  life,  is  inclined  to  seek  health  and  re- 
cuperation without  regarding  the  inner  life  and 
the  commandments  of  God,  so  he  is  also  inclined 
to  yield  himself  passionately  and  without  re- 
straint to  tlie  indulgence  of  the  natural  appetite 
for  fooil,  and,  in  his  collection  of  the  means 
of  nourishment,  to  lose  self-collection,  the  self- 
possession  of  an  interior  life.  As  a  token  of  this 
the  Sabbath  here  comes  in  at  the  right  point, 
and  therefore  points  at  once  from  the  earthly 
manna  to  tlie  heavenly  manna,  [vid.  John   vi.).* 

Thf  aiiiwuncemcnt  of  the  miracle.  I  will  rain. 
The  first  fundamental  condition  of  the  feeding: 
recognition  of  the  Giver,  comp.  James  i.  17. — 
From  heaven.  Though  this  in  general  miglit 
also  be  said  of  bre.ad  "  from  the  earth,"  yet 
here  a  contrast  is  intended.  From  the  sky 
above,  /.  e.,  as  a  direct  gift. — The  people  shall 
go  out  and  gather.  A  perpetual  harvest,  but 
limited  by  divine  ordinance. — A  daily  portion 
every  day.  Reminding  one  of  the  petition, 
"Give  us  this  day,"  etc.  An  injunction  of  con- 
tentment.— On  the  sixth  day.  They  will 
find,  on  making  their  preparation  of  the  food, 
tliat  tlie  blessing  of  this  day  is  sufBcient  also  for 
the  eeventli. — At  even.  A  gift  of  flesh  was  to 
precede  the  gift  of  manna.  Thereby  they  are 
to  understand  that  Jehovah  has  led  them  out  of 
Egypt,  that  He  has  provided  for  them  a  substi- 
tute for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.     But  on  the  next 


«  Furtlu 
def-nco  iv.':iinit 
law  for  tlio  uiili 


I  fillows  the  fiindarae 


morning  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  i.  «., 
they  shall  recognize  the  glorious  presence  of 
Jehovah  in  the  fact  that  He  has  heard  their  mur- 
muring against  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  has  ap- 
plied it  to  Himself,  in  that  He  presents  them  tlio 
manna. — For  what  are  we  ?  Thus  do  the 
holy  men  retire  and  disappear  behind  Jehovah. — 
But  the  people  also  must  come  to  this  same  con- 
viction, must  repent  of  their  murmurings,  and 
feel  that  they  have  murmured  against  Jehovah, 
not  against  His  servants.  Thus  with  perfect 
propriety  is  a  sanction  of  the  sacred  ofiice  inter- 
woven into  the  same  history  into  which  the  his- 
tory of  the  Sabbath  is  interwoven.  Hence  it 
follows  also  that  the  true  sacred  ofiice  must  au- 
thenticate itself  by  miraculous  blessings.  Both 
are  sealed  by  a  specially  mysterious  revelation. 
It  is  significant  that  in  this  connection  Aaron 
must  be  the  speaker  (ver.  9),  that  he  must  sum- 
mon the  people  before  Jehovah  to  humble  them- 
selves before  His  face  on  account  of  their  mur- 
muring. Equally  significant  is  it,  that  the  con- 
gregation, while  Aaron  speaks,  sees  the  mani- 
festation of  Jehovah's  glory  in  the  cloud. 
Especially  significant,  however,  is  it,  that  they 
see  this  glory  rest  over  the  wide  wilderness,  a3 
they  turn  and  look  towards  it.  A  most  beauti- 
ful touch!  With  the  wilderness  itself  the  way 
through  the  wilderness  is  transfigured  at  this 
moment.  If  we  assume  (with  Keil)  that  the 
summons  to  appear  before  Jehovah  is  equivalent 
to  a  summons  to  come  out  of  the  tents  to  the 
place  where  the  cloud  stood,  then  it  must  be 
further  assumed,  that  the  cloud  suddenly  changed 
its  position,  and  removed  to  the  wilderness,  or 
else  appeared  in  a  double  form.  Neither  thing 
can  be  admitted.  Hereupon  follows  the  last 
solemn  announcement  of  the  miraculous  feeding, 
as  the  immediate  announcement  of  Jehovah 
Himself. 

The  double  miracle  itself. — The  quails  cams 
up. — This  narrative  has  its  counterpart  in  the 
narrative  of  the  quails  in  Num.  xi.  4  sqq.,  just 
as  the  chiding  on  account  of  want  of  water  at 
Rephidim  has  its  counterpart  in  the  .=tory  of  the 
water  of  strife  (Meribah),  distinctively  so-called 
in  Num.  xx.  The  relation  of  the  narratives  to 
one  another  is  important.  The  murmuring  of 
the  people  in  the  beginning  of  their  journey 
through  the  wilderness  is  treated  with  the 
greatest  mildness,  almost  as  a  child's  sicknoi's; 
but  their  murmuring  towards  the  end  of  the 
journey  is  regarded  as  a  severe  otfence,  and  is 
severely  punished;  it  is  like  the  offence  of  a 
mature  man,  committed  in  view  of  many  years' 
experience  of  God's  miraculous  help.  At  the 
water  of  strife  even  Moses  himself  is  involved 
in  the  guilt,  through  his  impatience;  ami  the 
gift  of  quails  in  abundance  is  made  a  judgment 
on  the  people  for  their  immoderate  indulgence. 
Another  difference  corresponds  to  the  natural 
features  of  the  desert:  the  quails  do  not  keep 
coming;  but  the  people  find  themselves  accom- 
panied by  the  manna  till  they  are  tired  of  eating 
it. — Came  up. — ri/J?.  The  coming  on  of  a  host 
of  locusts  or  birds  has  the  optical  appearance 
of  a  coming  up. — iSbH,  "with  the  article  of  a 
word  used  collectively  of  a  class  "  (Keil).     LXX. 


cn\p.  XV. 


cpTvyo/i^rpa,  Vulg.  coturnices.  Large  quail'", 
whose  name  in  Arabic  comes  from  their  fatness 
— wty,  fat.  S.iys  Knobel :  "  They  become  very 
fat,  increase  enormously,  and  in  the  spring  mi- 
grate noriliward,  in  the  autumn  southward. 
Here  we  are  to  conceive  of  a  spring  migration. 
For  the  events  described  took  place  in  the  second 
month,  I.  e.  about  our  May  (xvi.  1  ;  Num.  s.  11), 
and  the  quails  came  to  the  Israelites  from  the 
south-east,  from  the  Arabian  Gulf  (Ps.  Ixsviii. 
26  sq. ;  Num.  xi.  31K  In  his  journey  from 
Sinai  to  Edomitis  in  March,  Schubert  (II.,  p. 
8G0  sq.)  saw  whole  clouds  of  migratory  birds, 
of  such  extent  and  denseness  as  never  before; 
they  came  from  their  southern  winter-quarters, 
and  were  hastening  toward  the  sea-coast  (?). 
Probably  they  were  quails,  at  least  in  part." 
Furiher  particulars  on  the  abundance  of  quails 
in  those  regions,  sec  in  Knobel  (p.  100)  and 
Keil  (II.,  p.  GO).  "They  are  sometimes  so 
exiinusted  tbat  they  can  be  caught  with  the 
hand  "  (  Keil).  Some  identify  the  fowl  with  the 
^/?«  of  tiie  Arabs  [a  sort  of  partridge].  Of  course 
it  must  be  assumed  that  the  Israelites  in  the  wil- 
derness were  no  more  confined  to  the  quails  for 
meat  than  to  the  manna  for  bread. 

Tlie  nunum.  Vers.  13,  14.  A  layer  of  dew. 
A  deposit  or  fall  of  dew.— A  dust,  l  e.  an 
abundance  of  small  kernels.  If  the  a-a^  7cy. 
DiJpnp  is  explained  simply  according  to  the 
verb  ^5'^>  '0  P^"!  "ffi  scale  off,  we  get  the  no- 
tion of  scaly  or  leaf-shaped  kernels,  but  not  tliat 
of  coagulated  kernels.  But  perhaps  the  notion 
of  shelled  kernels  of  grain  is  transferred,  in  ac- 
cordance with  appearance,  to  these  kernels. 
"  .According  to  ver.  31  and  Num.  xi.  7,"  says 
Knobel,  "  the  manna  resembled  in  appearance 
the  white  coriander  seeds  (small,  round  kernels 
of  dull  while  or  yellowish  green  color)  and  the 
bdellium  (resin)."  Again  he  says:  '-According 
to  the  Old  Testament,  the  dew  comes  from  hea- 
ven (Deut.  xxxiii.  13,  28;  Prov.  iii.  20;  Zech. 
viii.  12;  Hag.  i.  10);  with  it  the  manna  de- 
scended (Num.  xi.  9) ;  this  seems  therefore  like 
bread  rained  down  from  heaven,  and  is  called 
'  corn  of  heaven,'  '  bread  of  heaven  '  (Ps.  Uxviii. 
24;  cv.  40)."  Further  on  Knobel  relates  that 
the  ancients  also  supposed,  that  honey  rained 
down  from  the  air;  hence  he  should  more 
exactly  distinguish  between  the  notions  of  at- 
mosphere and  of  heaven  as  the  dwelling-place 
of  God,  comp.  John  vi  31,  32.— Man  hu.— The 
explanation  that  p  is  to  be  derived  from  [p. 
to  apportion,  and  that  this  expression  therefore 
meaus:  "a  present  is  that"  (Kimchi,  Luther, 
Gesenius,  Knobel.  Kunz),  does  not  suit  the  con- 
text, which  would  make  Moses  repeat  what  the 
people  had  said  before  him,  to  s.ay  nothing  of 
the  fact  that  the  derivation  of  the  notion  "pre- 
sent" from  I  he  verb  is  disputed.  On  the  con-, 
trary,  the  interpretation  of  the  LXX.,  Keil  and 
others,  -l  karc  Tohro^  perfectly  accords  with  the 
connection.  They  said:  "What  is  that?"  be- 
cause they  did  not  know  what  it  was.  "  p  for 
iTD  belongs  to  the  popular  language,  and  is  pre- 
served in  Chaldee  and  ElhioVio.  so  that  it  is 
indisputably  to  be  regarded  as  an  old  Shemitio 
form"  (Keil). 


The  natural  manna  and  the  miraculous  manna. — 
Comp.  the  articles  in  the  Bible  Dictionaries. 
Koil  says:  "This  bread  of  heaven  was  given  by 
Jehovah  to  His  people  for  the  first  time  at  a  sea- 
son and  in  a  place  where  natural  manna  is  still 
found.  The  natural  manna  is  now  found  in  the 
peninsula  of  Sinai  usually  in  June  and  July, 
ofien  even  as  early  as  in  May,  most  abundantly 
in  the  vicinity  of  Mt.  Sinai,  in  Wady  Feiran  and 
Es-sheikh,  but  also  in  Wady  Ghurundcl  and 
Tavibeh  (Seetzen,  Reisen,  III.,  p.  76,  120),  and 
some  valleys  south-east  of  Mt.  Sinai  (Ritter, 
XIV.,  p.  670),  where  it  in  warm  weather  oozes 
by  night  out  of  the  branches  of  the  tarfa->ree,  a 
sort  of  tamarisk,  and  in  the  form  of  small  glo- 
bules falls  down  upon  the  dry  leaves,  branches, 
and  thorns  which  lie  under  the  trees,  and  is 
gathered  before  sunrise,  but  melts  in  the  heat 
of  the  sun.  In  years  when  rain  is  abundant,  it 
falls  more  plentifully  for  sis  weeks;  in  many 
years  it  is  entirely  wanting.  It  has  the  appear- 
ance of  gum,  and  has  a  sweet,  honey-like  taste, 
and  when  copiously  used,  is  said  to  be  a  gentle 
laxative  (Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  600;  Wellsted  in 
Ritter,  p.  674).  There  are  thus  presented  some 
striking  points  of  resemblance  between  the  man- 
na of  the  Bible  anil  the  tamarisk  manna.  Not 
only  is  the  place  where  the  Israelites  first  re- 
ceived manna  the  same  as  that  in  which  it  is 
obtained  now,  but  the  time  of  the  year  is  the 
same,  inasmuch  as  the  15th  day  of  the  secoed 
month  (ver.  1)  falls  in  the  middle  of  our  May, 
or  eviu  -'■'!  1  r  i-.  .\l?o  in  color,  form  and  ap- 
peavi'i  I'.mce  is  unmistakable,  since 

theti'  .         I  I!!,   though  of   a    dull   yellow 

coloi'.  .-  !  w'.i'  M  II  I  ills  upon  stones  is  described 
as  white:  the  resemblance  is  likewise  seen  in 
(he  fact,  that  it  falls  in  kernels  upon  the  earth, 
is  gathered  in  the  morning,  melts  in  the  sun, 
and  tastes  like  honey.  While  these  points  of 
agreement  indubitably  point  to  a  connection  be- 
tween the  natural  and  the  Biblical  manna,  yet 
the  differences  which  run  parallel  with  all  of 
the  resemblances  indicate  no  less  clearly  the 
miraculous  character  of  the  heavenly  bread." 
Thus  Keil  leaves  the  matter,  without  reconciling 
the  two  positions.  The  miraculous  manna,  ho 
says,  was  enjoyed  by  the  Israelites  forty  years 
long  everywhere  in  the  wilderness  and  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year  in  quantity  equal  to  the 
wants  of  the  very  numerous  people.  Hetigsten- 
berg's  theory  (Geschichle  des  Bilcam,  p.  280)  that 
the  natural  manna  which  is  formed  on  the  leaves 
of  the  tarfa-bush  by  the  sting  of  an  insect 
(according  lo  a  discovery  of  Ehrcnberg's),  is 
the  natural  substratum  of  the  miraculous  abun- 
dance of  manna,  is  combated  by  Kurtz  III,  p. 
34.  Kurtz  can  conceive  that  the  people  lived  at 
Kadesh  thirty-seven  years  in  apostasy,  and  that 
nevertheless  during  all  this  time  they  received 
regularly  their  portion  of  manna  for  every  man. 
By  this  method  of  distinguishing  the  miraculous 
from  the  natural  manna,  we  come  to  the  hypo- 
thesis, that  the  people  of  Israel  were  fed  with 
two  kinds  of  manna ;  for  it  will  certainly  not  be 
assumed  that  the  natural  fall  of  manna  during 
all  this  time  was  supernaturally  suspended,  as 
in  a  similar  manner  Keil  on  xvi.  10  makes  out 
two  pillars  of  cloud.  Von  Raumer  and  Kurtz, 
we   may   remark,    go   as    much    beyond    Keil, 


64 


as  Keil  does  beyond  Hengstenberg.  Vld. 
Keil,  p.  72,  and  the  note  on  the  same  page. 
Between  the  baldly  literal  interpretation  and 
the  embellishments  of  wonder-loving  legends  the 
view  above  described  recognizes  nothing  higher; 
it  does  not  understand  the  symbolic  language  of 
the  theocratic  religion,  nor  see  how  an  under- 
standing of  this  lifts  us  as  much  above  the  mythi- 
cal as  the  literal  interpretation.  The  defect  of 
the  latter  consists,  as  to  substance,  in  the  circum- 
Btance  that  it  identifies  the  conception  of  nature 
with  that  of  the  common  external  world  raised  by 
a  Providential  government  only  a  little  above  a 
material  system ;  as  to  form,  it  is  defective  in 
that  it  identifies  the  word  and  the  letter,  and  can- 
not understand  and  appreciate  the  specific  dif- 
ference between  the  heathen  myth  and  the  sym- 
bolical expression  of  the  theocratic  spirit  as  it 
blends  together  ideas  and  facts.  Kurtz  refers 
to  the  miracle  in  John  ii.,  without  clearly  appre- 
hending that  this  miracle  would  be  the  merest 
trifle,  if  his  nolion  of  the  miracle  of  the  manna 
is  the  correct  one,  to  s.iy  nothing  of  the  evident 
conflict  of  this  with  John  vi.  32.  Knobel,  whose 
learned  disquisition  on  the  manna  (p.  171  sqq.) 
should  be  consulted,  thus  states  the  distinctive 
features  of  the  miraculous  manna,  which  he  re- 
gards as  a  legendary  thing:  (a)  The  manna,  ac- 
cording to  the  Biblical  account,  "comes  with  the 
mist  and  dew  from  heaven  (xvi.  14) ;" — so  Kurtz 
III.,  p.  28.  But  since  the  mist  does  not  come 
down  from  the  throne  of  God,  the  meaning  is 
simply  tliat  it  comes  from  above,  not  from  below, 
(b)  "  It  falls  in  such  immense  abundance  that 
every  person  of  the  very  numerous  people  daily 
receives  an  omer  (vers.  16,  36)."  The  omer, 
however,  is  a  very  moderate  hand  measure,  the 
tenth  part  of  an  ephah,  originally  hardly  a  defi- 
nite quantity,  vid.  Keil  II.,  p.  74.  (c)  Further- 
more, "those  who  gather  the  manna  collect  al- 
ways only  just  what  they  need,  no  more  and  no 
less."  This  is  clearly  to  be  symbolically  ex- 
plained of  contentedness  and  community,  (d) 
"  The  manna  falls  only  on  the  six  working-days, 
not  on  the  seventh  day,  it  being  the  Sabbath 
(ver.  26  sq.)."  On  this  is  to  be  observed  that  this 
extraordinary  fact  was  needed  only  once,  in  order 
to  sanction  the  Sabbath;  the  fact  may  also  be 
explained  by  the  circumstance  that  on  the  day 
before  an  extraordinary,  double  fall  of  manna 
took  place,  (c)  "  Tlie  manna  which  is  kept  over 
from  one  working-day  to  another  becomes  wormy 
and  ofl'ensive  (ver.  2')),  whilst  that  preserved 
from  tlie  sixth  day  to  the  seventh  keeps  good 
(ver.  24),  for  which  reason,  except  on  the  sixth 
day,  the  manna  must  always  be  eaten  on  the  day 
when  it  is  gathered."  This  too  is  a  singular, 
enigmatical  fact;  but  it  is  cleared  up  by  looking 
at  it  in  its  rich  ideal  light.  The  supply  which 
heathen  providence  heaps  up  breeds  worms,  de- 
cays, and  smells  offensively:  not  so  the  supply 
required  by  the  Sabbath  rest,  sacred  festivities, 
and  divine  service,  (f)  "It  is  ground  in  the 
hand-mill,  crushed  in  the  mortar,  and  cooked  by 
baking  or  boiling,  made  e.g.  into  cakes  (ver.  23, 
Num.  xi.  8).  (g)  It  appears  in  general  as  a  sort 
of  bread,  tasting  like  baked  food  (ver.  31,  Num. 
xi.  83,  and  is  always  called  DnH.  even  |J"1  (vid. 
«cr,  15),  to  say  nothing  of  the  miraculous  dou- 


bling of  the  quantity  (vers.  5,  22). "_  This  latter 
feature  comes  at  once  to  nothing,  if  we  assume 
that  on  the  sixth  day  there  was  a  double  fall  of 
manna.*  How  far  the  manna,  which  contains  no 
farinaceous  elements,  but  only  glucose,  was  min- 
gled with  farinaceous  elements,  in  order  to  be 
used  after  the  manner  of  farinaceous  food,  we 
need  not  inquire;  at  all  events  the  Israelites 
could  not  afterwards  have  said,  of  a  properly 
farinaceous  substance,  and  that  too  of  a  superior 
kind,  "  Our  soul  loatheth  this  light  food."  The 
splendor  with  which  faith,  wonder,  and  grati- 
tude had  invested  the  enjoyment  of  the  miracu- 
lous food  had  vanished.  According  to  Ki-il,  the 
connection  of  the  natural  manna  with  the  miracu- 
lous manna  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  we  are  also  not 
to  conceive  of  a  mere  augmentation,  but  the  om- 
nipotence of  God  created  from  the  natural  sub- 
stance a  new  one,  "  which  in  quality  and  quan- 
tity as  far  transcends  the  products  of  nature  as 
the  kingdom  of  grace  and  glory  outshines  the 
kingdoms  of  nature."  But  Christ,  in  John  vi., 
speaks  of  a  manna  in  the  kingdom  of  gr.aoe  and 
glory,  in  contrast  with  the  Mosaic  mauna. — Ac- 
cording to  Kurtz,  who,  especially  in  opposition 
to  Karl  Ritter,  follows  the  opinion  of  Schubert, 
the  manna  was  prepared  by  a  miracle  of  omnipo- 
tence in  the  atmosphere;  according  to  Schubert, 
that  "tendency  to  the  production  of  manna  which 
at  the  right  time  permeated  the  vitalizing  air, 
and  with  it  all  the  vital  forces  of  the  land,  has 
propagated  itself  still,  at  least  in  the  living 
thickets  of  the  manna-tamarisks."  The  natural 
manna,  then,  is  a  descendant  of  the  Biblical 
manna,  but  a  degenerate  sort,  developed  by  the 
puncture  made  by  the  cochineal  insect  iu  tiie 
branches  of  the  tarfa-shrub! 

We  are  specially  to  consider  further  (1)  the 
preservation  of  a  pot,  containing  an  omer  of 
manna,  in  the  sanctuary;  (2)  the  specification  of 
the  time  during  which  the  use  of  manua  by  the 
Israelites  lasted.  As  to  the  first  point,  the  ob- 
ject was  to  preserve  the  manna  as  a  religious  me- 
inorial;  hence  the  expression  of  the  LLX.,  ord/i- 
jj&C  ;tpwotif,  is  exegetical.  "The  historian  here 
evidently  anticipates  the  later  execution  of  the 
charge  now  given.  Comp.  Hengstenberg,  Pen- 
tatntch  II.,  p.  169  sqq."  (Kurtz).  As  to  the  se- 
cond point,  it  is  expressively  said  that  Israel  had 
no  lack  of  the  miraculous  manna  so  long  as  they 
were  going  through  the  wilderness ;  but  Kurtz 
infers  from  Josh.  v.  11,  12,  that  the  Jews  did  not 
cease  to  eat  manna  till  after  the  passovcr  in  Gil- 
gal,  though  they  had  other  food  besides.  The 
correct  view  is  presented  in  the  Commentary  on 
Joshua,  ch.  v.  12,  where  stress  is  laid  on  the  con- 
trast between  Jehovah's  immediate  preservatiou 
of  the  food  of  the  wilderness,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  historical  development  that  took  the 
place  of  this,  on  the  other  hand,  i.  c,  the  natural 
order  of  things  which  belongs  to  civilized  life; 
corresponding  to  the  fact  that  the  ark  took  the 
place  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  as  leader  of 
the  people. 

The   question   whether  in   this   narrative  the 


fThia  rnplv 


n'('rf)  of  Kiiobel.  L^uge 
iHll  and  an  extranrdinary 
xtraonlinary  (double)  fall 
iou.— Tr.) 


CHAP.  XV.  22^XVIII.  27. 


Sabbath  is  instituted  for  the  first  time  (Heng- 
stenberg),  or  again  renewed  (Liebetrut),  ig  thus 
decided  by  Kurtz  (III.,  p.  42):  The  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  before  the  law, 
nay  even  in  Paradise,  but  "  the  law  of  the  Sab- 
bath first  recewed  a  lec/al  character  through  the 
revelation  on  Sinai,  and  lost  it  again  through  the 
love  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  in  the  new 
covenant  (Col.  ii.  16,  17)."  In  the  fulfilment 
nothing  indeed  is  lost,  but  every  law  becomes  a 
liberating  principle.  It  is  noticeable  how  in  the 
history  of  Moses,  patriarchal  customs,  to  which 
also  probably  the  Sabbath  belonged,  are  sanc- 
tioned by  miraculous  events  and  receive  a  legal 
character;  as  has  already  been  seen  in  various 
instances  (festivals,  worship,  sanitary  laws,  offi- 
cial rank,  the  Sabbath). 

4.   RephUIim. 

a.  Piephidim  and  the  place  called  Temptation 
and  Strife. 

Following  the  route  of  the  mountain  road  the 
Israelites  now  came  out  of  the  region  of  the  rod 
sandstone  into  that  of  porphyry  and  granite 
(Knobel,  p.  174).  They  came  thither  "accord- 
ing to  their  day's  journeys,"  i.  «.,  after  several 
day's  journeys.  In  Num.  xxxiii.  12  the  two  sta- 
tions Dophkih  and  .A.lush  are  mentioned.  On 
the  conjecture  of  Knobel  (p.  174)  concerning 
these  places,  vid.  Keil  II.,  p.  76. 

According  to  Knobel  (p.  176),  "popular  tra- 
dition transfers  the  occurrence  here  mentioned 
to  Kadesli,  therefore  to  a  later  lime,  (Num.  xx. 
8)."  It  is  a  universal  characteristic  of  modern 
scientists  that,  not  being  free  from  the  propen- 
sity to  give  predominant  weight  to  sensible 
things,  they  are  easily  carried  away  with  exter- 
nal resemblance'*,  hence  witli  allegories,  and  so 
may  disreganl  tlie  greatest  internal  differences 
of  things.  Thus  as  the  external  resemblance  of 
man  to  the  monkey  is  more  impressive  to  the 
naturalist  than  the  immense  inward  contrast,  so 
Biblical  criticism  often  becomes  entangled  in  this 
modern  allegorizing  ;  even  Hengstenberg  pays 
tribute  to  it  in  identifying  the  Simon  of  Bethany 
with  the  Pharisee  Simon  on  the  Lake  of  Galilee, 
and  so,  the  Mary  of  Bethany  with  the  sinful 
woman  who  anointed  Jesus. 

As  the  sending  of  the  quails  in  Num.  xi.  5 
sqq.,  forms  a  companion-piece  to  that  in  Ex.  xvi., 
so  the  water  of  strife  in  Num.  xx.  2  sqq.,  to  the 
water  of  strife  in  Rephidim.  There  is  a  resem- 
blance even  in  the  sounds  of  the  names  of  ihc 
deserts  Sin  (j'D  thorn?),  and  Zin  (Ji*  low  palm). 
So  also  the  want  of  water  and  the  murmurs  of 
the  people,  and  in  consequence  of  this  the  seem- 
ingly identical  designation  of  the  place;  also  the 
giving  of  water  out  of  the  rock.  Aside  from  the 
d-.fference  of  time  and  place,  the  internal  features 
of  the  two  histories  are  also  very  different ;  even 
the  difference  in  the  designations  is  to  be  ob- 
served, the  place  Massah  and  Meribah  (temp- 
tation and  strife),  and  the  water  Meribah,  over 
which  the  children  of  Israel  strove  with  Jehovah, 
and  lie  was  sanctified  (shown  to  be  holy)  among 
tliem.  In  the  first  account  Jehovah  is  only 
tempted  by  the  people;  in  the  second.  He  is 
almost  denied.  In  the  one,  Moses  is  said  to 
smite  the   rock,  away  from  the  people,  in  the 


presence  of  the  elders;  in  the  other,  he  and 
Aaron  are  said  to  speak  with  the  rock  before  all 
the  people.  Also  the  summary  description  of 
the  journey  in  Deut.  i.  37,  leaves  no  doubt  that 
the  second  incident  is  entirely  different  from  the 
first.  Likewise  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  8,  two  different 
things  are  mentioned,  and  the  temptation  at 
Massah  is  distinguished  from  the  strife  at  the 
water  of  strife,  (comp.  Ps.  xcv.  8).  It  lies  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  religious  mind 
would  celebrate  in  a  comprehensive  way  its 
recollection  of  the  most  essential  thing  in  the 
two  events,  viz.,  the  miraculous  help  of  Jehovah, 
Deut.  viii.  lo,  Is.  xlviii.  21,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  lo,  -JO,  cv. 
41,  cxiv.  8,  Neh.  is.  15.  Why  chide  ye  with 
me? — The  true  significance  of  this  chiding  with 
him  Moses  at  once  characterizes:  it  is  a  tempt- 
ing of  Jehovah.  This  he  could  do  after  what  he 
had  affirmed  in  xvi.  8,  9.  After  the  giving  of 
the  quails  and  the  manna,  designed  to  confirm 
the  divine  mission  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  they 
had  now  to  do  with  Jehovah,  when  thoy  quar- 
relled with  Moses.  But  how  far  did  they  tempt 
Jehovah?  Not  simply  "by  unbelieving  doubt 
of  the  gracious  presence  of  the  Lord"  (Keil). 
They  sinfully  tested  the  question  whether  Jeho- 
vah would  again  stand  by  Moses,  or  would  this 
time  forsake  him.  Hence  their  reproach  against 
Jloses  reaches  the  point  of  complaining  that  he 
is  to  blame  for  their  impending  ruin — a  com- 
plaint which  might  well  have  been  followed  by 
stoning.  Jehovah's  command  corresponds  with 
this  state  of  things.  Moses  is  to  go  confidently 
away  from  the  people  to  the  still  distant  Horeb, 
but  to  take  with  him  the  elders  of  the  people  as 
witnesses,  and  there  to  smite  the  rock  with  his 
rod.  But  Jehovah  is  lo  stand  there  before  him 
on  the  rock.  Does  this  mean,  as  Keil  represents, 
that  God  humbles  Himself  like  a  servant  before 
his  master?  He  rather  appears  as  Moses'  visible 
representative,  who  rent  the  rock  and  produced 
the  miraculous  spring.  The  rock  that  followed 
them,  says  Paul,  was  Christ  (1  Cor.  x.  4). 
Thence  again  is  seen  the  divine  human  nature 
of  the  miracle,  a  mysterious  synthesis  of  natural 
feeling  and  prophecy  of  grace.  On  Tacitus'  in- 
vidious narrative  of  Moses'  h.aving  discovered  a 
spring  of  water  by  means  of  a  drove  of  wild 
asses,  see  Kurtz  III.,  p.  48. 

i.  Eephidim  and  Amalek.  Hostile  Heathen- 
dom. 

As  in  the  account  of  Amalek  we  see  typically 
presented  the  relation  of  the  people  of  God  to  the 
irreconcilably  hostile  heathendom;  so  in  that 
of  Jethro  their  relation  to  heathendom  as  mani- 
festing a  kindly  disposition  towards  the  theo- 
cracy. 

Exhaustive  treatises  on  the  Amalekites  may 
be  found  in  the  dictionaries  and  commentaries, 
especially  also  in  Hengstenberg  (Pentateuch 
II.,  p.  247  sqq.,  and  Kurtz  III.,  p.  4S).  In  the  way 
nations  used  to  be  formed,  Amalek,  a  grandson 
of  Esau,  might  quite  well  have  become  a  nation 
by  Moses'  time  {vid.  Gen.  xxxvi.),  Edomite 
leaders  forming  a  nucleus  around  which  a  con- 
glomerate multitude  gathered.  The  Edomite  ten- 
dency to  barbarism  was  perpetuated  in  Amalek, 
and  so  in  his  descendants  was  developed  a  nation 
of  Bedouin  robbers,  who  might  have  spread  from 


■  Idumea  to  Sinai,  and  perhaps  in  their  capacity 
as  waylayers  had  come  to  give  name  to  a  moun- 
tion  of  the  Amalekites  in  the  tribe  of  Ephraira 
(Judg.  xii.  15).  Thus  might  a  little  people, 
which  was  liindred  to  Israel  in  the  same  way  as 
Edom  was,  after  Israel  was  regenerated  to  be 
the  people  of  God,  be  the  first  to  throw  them- 
selves hostilely  in  their  way,  and  thus  become 
the  representative  of  all  hostile  heathend-im,  as 
opposed  to  the  people  and  kingdom  of  Goi.  In 
accordance  with  this  was  shaped  the  theocratic 
method  of  warfare  against  Amalck.  and  the 
typical  law  of  war  (see  Keil  II.,  p.  77).  It  is 
significant  that  the  Midianites  in  the  branch 
represented  by  Jethro  should  present  heathen- 
dom on  friendly  t«rms  with  Israel,  although  the 
relationship  was  much  less  close.  On  the  denial 
of  the  identity  between  the  Amalekites  and  the 
above-mentioned  descendants  of  Esau,  see  Kurtz 
III.,  p.  49.  The  descendant  of  Esau  might,  how- 
ever, have  received  his  name  Amalek  by  transfer 
from  the  Eedouin  horde  which  became  subser- 
vient to  him. 

Then  came  Amalek.  According  to  Bent. 
sxv.  18,  the  attack  of  the  Amalekites  was  a  des- 
picable surprise  of  the  feeble  stragglers  of  the 
Israelites.  *'  We  have  to  conceive  the  order  of 
the  events  to  be  about  as  follows:  The  murmur- 
ing on  account  of  want  of  water  and  the  relief 
of  that  want  took  place  immediately  after  the 
arrival  at  Ilephidim  of  the  main  part  of  the  host 
which  had  hurried  forward,  whilst  tlie  rear, 
whose  arrival  had  been  delayed  by  fatigue,  was 
still  on  the  way.  These  were  attacked  by  the 
Amalekites  "  (Kurtz).  The  several  features  in 
the  contest  now  beginning  are  these:  Joshua 
with  his  chosen  men  ;  Moses  on  the  mountain ; 
the  victory;  the  memorial  of  the  fight;  the  altar 
Nissi  and  its  typical  significance— eternal  war 
against  Amalek  I 

Joshua.  Jehovah  is  help,  or  salvation.  Thus, 
according  to  Num.  xiii.  16,  his  former  name, 
Hoshea  (hrlp,  or  sulralion)  was  enriched;  and 
perhaps  the  present  war  and  victory  occasioned 
the  change. — Choose  us  out  men.  It  was 
the  first  war  which  the  people  of  God  had  to 
wage,  and  it  was  against  a  wild  and  insidious 
foe.  Hence  no  troops  of  doubtful  courage  could 
be  sent  against  the  enemy,  but  a  select  company 
must  fight  the  battle,  with  Joshua  at  the  head, 
whose  heroic  spirit  Moses  had  already  discovered. 
Precipitancy  also  was  avoided.  They  let  the  enemy 
remain  secure  until  the  following  day.  The  host 
of  warriors,  however,  had  to  be  supported  by  the 
host  of  spirits  in  the  congregation  interceding 
and  blessing,  as  represented  by  Moses  in  con- 
junction with  Aaron  and  Hur.  See  my  pamphlet 
"  Vom  Krieg  undvom  Sieg." 

Tlie  completed  victory  was  to  be  immortalized 
by  the  military  annals  ("  the  book  ")  and  by  the 
living  recollections  of  the  host  ("  in  the  ears  of 
Joshua"). — The  altar  A''('ssi  (Jehovah  my  banner), 
however,  was  to  serve  the  purpose  of  inaugura- 
ting the  consecration  of  war  by  means  of  right 
military  religious  service.  Accordingly,  the  two 
essential  conditions  of  the  war  were,  first,  Jeho- 
vah's summoning  the  people  to  the  sacred  work 
of  defense,  secondly,  Jehovah's  own  help.  And 
also  the  war  against  Amalek  is  perpetuated  until 
he  is   utterly  destroyed   only  in  the  sense  that 


Amalek  typically  represents  malicious  hostility 
to  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God. 

"Hur  comes  repeatedly  before  us  (xxiv.  14, 
sxxi.  2)  as  a  man  of  high  repute,  and  as  an  as- 
sistant of  Moses.  Josephus  (Ant.  III.  2,  4),  fol- 
lowing a  Jewish  tradition,  of  the  correctness  of 
which  there  is  much  probability,  calls  him  the 
husband  of  Miriam,  Moses'  sister"  (Kurtz). 
According  to  xxxi.  2.  he  was  the  grandfather  of 
Bezaleel,  the  architect  of  the  tabernacle,  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  and  the  son  of  Caleb  (Chron. 
i.  17.) 

It  is  clear  that  the  transaction  with  the  rod  of 
Moses  was  in  this  case  too  a  symbolic  and  pro- 
phetic, a  divine  and  human,  assurance  of  victory. 
Therefore  the  rod  must  be  held  on  high,  and  in- 
asmuch as  Moses'  hands  cannot  permanently 
hold  it  up,  they  must  be  supported  by  Aaron  and 
Hur.  In  the  holy  war  the  priesthood  and  no- 
bility must  support  the  prophetical  ruler.  Thus 
is  produced  an  immovable  confidence  in  Jehovah 
Nissi,  afterwards  called  Jehovah  Sabaoth  (of 
hosts).  From  His  throne,  through  Moses'  hand, 
victorious  power  and  confidence  flow  into  the  host 
of  warriors.  The  book  begun  by  Moses,  in  which 
the  victory  over  Amalek  is  recorded,  is  important 
in  reference  to  the  question  concerning  the  autho- 
rity of  the  Bible.  "  When  Jehovah  further  com- 
mands Moses  to  intrust  to  Joshua  the  future  ex- 
tirpation of  Amalek,  it  becomes  evident  ev«n 
now  that  he  is  destined  to  be  Moses'  successor" 
(Kurtz).  A  conjecture  about  the  hill  where 
Moses  stood  may  be  found  in  Knobel,  p.  177; 
Keil,  II.,  p.  79.  Subsequent  wars  waged  against 
Amalek  by  Saul  and  David  are  narrated  in  1  Sam. 
XV.,  sxvii.,  XXX.  Kurtz  regards  the  elevated  hand 
of  Moses  not  as  a  symbol  ot  prayer  to  Jehovah,  but 
only  of  victorious  confidence  derived  from  Jeho- 
vah, III.,  p.  51.  Keil  rightly  opposes  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  bestowment  of  victory  from  prayer, 
p.  79,  but  goes  to  the  other  extreme  when  he 
s.ays,  "  The  elevated  rod  was  a  sign  not  for  the 
fighting  Israelites,  since  it  cannot  even  be  made 
out  that  they,  in  the  confusion  of  battle,  could 
see  it,  but  for  Jehovah."  In  all  human  acts  of 
benediction  prayer  and  the  impartatiou  of  the 
blessing  are  united. 

c.  Jethro,  and  heathendom  as  friendly  to  the 
people  of  God. 

Inasmuch  as  chap.  xix.  records  the  establish- 
ment of  the  theocracy,  or  of  the  typical  kingdom 
of  God,  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  significant  that 
the  two  preceding  sections  fix  the  relation  and 
bearing  of  the  people  of  God  towards  heathen- 
dom. Out  of  one  principle  are  to  flow  two  op- 
posing ones,  in  accordance  with  the  twofold 
bearing  of  heathendom.  The  heathen,  repre- 
sented by  Amalek,  who  are  persistently  hostile, 
wage  war  against  Jehovah  Himself;  on  them  de- 
struction is  eventually  to  be  visited.  The  hea- 
then, however,  represented  by  Jethro,  who  are 
humane  and  cherish  friendship  towards  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  sustain  towards  Christianity,  as  it 
were,  the  relation  of  catechumens.  The  people 
of  God  enter  into  commercial  and  social  inter- 
course with  them  under  the  impulse  of  religion 
and  humanity;  similarly  James  defines  the  rela- 
tion of  Christianity  to  Judaism.  [There  is  no- 
thing about  this  in  his  E|  istle.  Is  the  reference 
to  Acts  XV.  20,  21?— Te.] 


CHAP.  XIX.  i-:.5. 


(i.)  The  pious  heathen  as  guest,  relative,  and 
protector  of  Moses'  family,  and  as  guardian  of 
the  spirilual  treasures  of  Israel.     Vers.  1-4. 

It  seems  like  too  legal  a  conception,  when  Keil 
calls  Jethro  the  "first-fruits  among  the  heathen 
that  seek  the  living  God,"  and  incidentally  ad- 
duces his  descent  from  Abraham.  Jethro  did 
not  become  a  Jew,  but  remained  a  priest  in 
Midian,  just  as  John  the  Baptist  did  not  become, 
properly  speaking,  a  Christian,  but  remained  a 
Jew.  It  is  more  correct,  when  Keil  says  that 
Amalek  and  Jethro  typify  and  represent  the  two- 
fold attitude  of  the  heathen  world  towards  the 
kingdom  of  God.  In  opposition  to  the  special 
conjectures  of  Kvirtz  and  Rauke,  especially  also 
the  assumption  that  there  was  not  time  enough  in 
Rephidim  for  this  new  incident,  see  Keil,  II.  p.  84.* 

(ii.)  The  pious  heathen  as  sympathetic  friend 
of  Moses  and  of  the  people  of  God  in  their  victo- 
ries.    Vers.  5-9. 

Notice  the  delicate  discretion  which  both  men 
observe,  with  all  their  friendship  towards  each 
other.  Jethro  does  not  rush  impetuously  for- 
ward; he  sends  word  of  his  approach.  Moses 
receives  him  with  appropriate  reverence,  but  first 
leads  him  into  his  tent;  for  whether  and  how  he 
may  introduce  him  to  his  people,  is  yet  to  be  de- 
termined. 

(iii.)  Religious  song  and  thank-offering  of  the 
pious  heathen.     Vers.  10-12. 

The  lyrical,!  festive  recognition  of  the  great- 
ness of  Jehovah  in  His  mode  of  bringing  the 
Egyptians  to  confusion  through  their  very  arro- 
gance does  not  involve  conversion  to  Judaism; 


moDtli  intervened  between  the  arri\ 
Sin  ani  the  arrival  at  tlie  wilderm-s,    i 

afforded  for  all  that  is  recorded  in  cii.ip. 

t  [Lauge  regards  xviii.  10, 11  as  poetic  in  i 


neither  does  the  burnt-offering  and  the  thank- 
offering:  but  they  do  indicate  ideal  spiritual  fel- 
lowship, aside  from  social  intercourse. 

(iv.)  The  religious  and  social  fellowship  of  the 
people  of  God,  even  of  Aaron  the  priest,  and  of 
the  elders,  with  the  pious  heathen.     Ver.  12. 

A  proof  thai  the  religious  spirit  of  the  Israelites 
was  as  yet  free  from  the  fanaticism  of  the  later 
Judaism  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  Aaron  and  the 
elders  could  take  part  in  a  sacrificial  feast  with 
Jethro.  Common  participation  in  the  Passover 
me.al  would  have  been  conditioned  on  circum- 
cision. 

(v.)  The  political  wisdom  and  organizing  talent 
of  the  pious  heathen  thankfully  recognized  and 
humbly  used  by  the  great  prophet  himself.  Vers. 
13-26. 

Jethro's  advice  given  to  Moses,  like  political 
institutions  and  political  wisdom,  is  not  a  gift  of 
immediate  revelation,  but  a  fruit  of  the  semus 
communis.  But  observe  that  Jethro  acknowledges 
the  prophetic  vocation  of  Moses,  and  Jehovah's 
revelation  in  regsird  to  all  great  matters  (ques- 
tions of  principle),  just  as  Moses  acknowledges 
the  piety  of  his  political  wisdom.  Moses  and 
Jethro  came  nearer  together  than  the  mediceval 
church  and  ordinary  liberalism.  Vers.  17  and 
18  contain  very  important  utterances  concerning 
the  consequences  of  such  a  hierarchy.  On  the 
distribution  of  the  people  according  to  the  deci- 
mal system,  see  Keil,  II.,  p.  87.  The  decimal 
numbers  are  supposed  by  him  to  designate  ap- 
proximately the  natural  ramifications  of  the  people 
[ten  being  assumed  to  represent  the  average  size 
of  a  family].  A  further  development  of  the  in- 
stitution (comp.  Deut.  i.  9)  took  place  later,  ac- 
cording to  Num.  xi.  16. 

(vi.)  Distinct  economies  on  a  friendly  footing 
with  each  other.    Ver.  27. 

Analogous  to  this  occurrence  is  the  covenant 
of  Abraham  with  Abimelech;  the  friendly  rela- 
tions maintained  by  David  and  Solomon  with 
Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  the  queen  of  Sheba,  etc. 


SECOND  DIVISION:   MOSES  AND  SINAI. 


FOUNDATION  IN  THE  LAEGER  SENSE. 
Chapters  XIX.— XXXI. 


FIRST   SECTION 

The  Arrival  at  Sinai  and  the  Preparation  for  the  Giving  of  the  Lavir. 
People  and  Covenant  Kingd( 

Ch.4P.  XIX.  1-25. 

1  In  the  third  month  when  [after]  the  children  of  Israel  were  gone  forth  out  of 

2  the  land  of  Egypt,  the  same  day  came  they  into  the  wilderness  of  8inai.  For  they 
were  departed  [And  they  journeyed]  from  Rephidim,  and  were  come  [and  came] 
io  the  desert  of  Sinai,  and  had  pitched  [and  encamped]  in  the  wilderness,  and  there 

3  Israel  camped  [was  encamped]  before  the  mount.  And  Moses  went  up  unto  God, 
and  Jehovah  called  unto  him  out  of  [from]  the  mountain,  saying,  Th 


The  Covenant 
Institution  of  the  Covenant. 


shalt  thou 


4  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  childreu  of  Israel:  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did 
unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings,  and  brought  you  unto 

5  myself.  Now  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed,  and  keep  ray  covenant, 
then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me  above  all  people  [peoples]  :   for  all  the 

6  earth  is  mine :  And  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kiugdom  of  priests,  and  an  [a]  holy  nation. 

7  These  are  the  words  which  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel.  And 
Moses  came  and  called  for  the  elders  of  the  people,  and  laid  before  their  faces 

8  [before  them]  all  these  words  which  Jehovah  commanded  hiiu.  And  all  the  people 
answered  together,  and  said.  All  that  Jehovah  hath  spoken  we  will  do.     And  Moses 

9  returued  [brought  back]  the  words  of  the  people  unto  Jehovah.  And  Jehovah 
said  unto  Moses,  Lo,  I  come  unto  thee  in  a  thick  cloud,  that  the  people  may  hear 
when  I  speak  with  thee  and  believe  [trust]  thee  for  ever.     And  IMoses  tuld  the 

10  words  of  the  people  unto  Jehovah.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Go  unto  the 
people,  and  sanctify  them   to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  let  them  wash  their  clothes, 

11  And  be  ready  against  the  third  day:  for  [for  ou]  the  third  day  Jehovah  will  come 

12  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people  upon  mount  Sinai.  And  thou  shalt  set  bounds 
unto  the  people  round  about,  saying,  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  ihat  ye  go  not  up 
[Beware  of  going  up]  into  the  mount,  or  touch  [touching]  the  border  of  it :  whoso- 

13  ever  toucheth  the  mount  shall  be  surely  [surely  be]  put  to  death.  There  shall  not 
au  [no]  hand  touch  it  [him],'  but  he  shall  surely  be  stoned,  or  shot  through;  whe- 
t'ler  it  he  beast  or  man,  it  [he]  shall  not  live :  when  the  trumpet  soundeth  long,  they 

14  shall  come  up  to  the  mount.     And  Moses  went  down  from  the  mount  unto  the  peo- 

15  pie,  and  sauotified  the  people;  and  they  washed  their  clothes.  And  he  said  unto 
the  people.  Be  ready  against  the  third  day:  come  not  at  your  wives  [near  a  woman]. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  in  the  morning  [when  morning  came], 
that  there  were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount,  aud 
the  voice  of  the  [a]  trumpet  exceeding  loud ;  so  that  [and]  all  the  people  that  %va.i 

17  [were]  in  the  camp  trembled.  And  Moses  brought  forth  the  people  out  of  the 
camp  to  meet  with  [to  meet]  God  ;  and  they  stood  at  the  nether  part  [the  foot]  of 

18  the  mount.  And  mouut  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke  [all  mount  Sinai  smoked], 
because  Jehovah  descended  upon  it  in  fire ;  aud  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the 

19  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount  quaked  greatly.  And  when  the  voice  of 
the  trumpet  sounded  long,  and  waxed  louder  and  louder  [And  the  voice  of  the  trum- 
pet waxed  louder  and  louder],  Moses  spake  [speaking]  and  God  answered  [answer- 

20  ing]  him  by  a  voice.^  And  Jehovah  came  down  upon  mount  Sinai,  on  [to]  the  top 
of  the  mount ;  and  Jehovah  called  Moses  up  to  the  top  of  the  mount;  and  Moses  went 

21  up.     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Go  down,  charge  the  people,  lest  they  break 

22  through  unto  Jehovah  to  gaze  [behold],  and  many  of  them  perish.  And  let  the 
priests  also,  which  [who]  come  near  to  Jehovah,  sanctify  themselves,  lest  Jehovah 

23  break  forth  upon  them.  And  iloses  said  unto  Jehovah,  The  people  cannot  come 
up  to  mount  Sinai :  for  thou  chargedst  [hast  charged]  us,  saying.  Set  bounds  about 

24  the  mount,  and  sanctify  it.  And  Jehovah  said  unto  him.  Away  [Go],  get  thee 
down  ;  and  thou  shalt  come  up,  thou,  and  Aaron  with  thee :  but  let  not  the  priests 
and  the  people  break  through  to  come  up  unto  Jehovah,  lest  he  break  forth  upon 

25  them.     So  Closes  went  down  unto  the  people,  and  spake  unto  [told]  them. 

TEXTUAL   AND  GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  13.  The  repetition  of  the  word  "  touch  "  (J.' J  J)  naturally  enggests  the  thought  that  the  olyect  is  the  same  as  ia 
the  preceding  Terse,  Tiz.,  "  monnt."  But  this  cannot  be  the  case.  For  (11  if  this  were  so,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  worJ 
"hand"  would  be  used,  especially  after  the  more  general  prohibition.  Tlie  second  prohibilion  would  be  weaker  than  I'.ie 
first,  for  one  would  most  naturally  touch  the  mountain  with  the  foot,  not  the  hand.  But  (2)  more  dt^cisivo  still  is  the  con- 
sideratiou  that  the  conjunction  '3  does  not  admit  of  this  construction.  It  can  here  only  have  the  meaning  "  but "  in  the 
sense  of  thi  German  "sonderu,"  i.  e,  "  bnt  on  the  contrary."  As  the  vorso  stands  in  A.  V.,  a  read-r  would  most  naturally 
uudera  aud  "but"  to  ho  equivalent  to  "but  that,"  and  the  meaning  tii  ll^  "No  h;md  shall  tnuth  it  without  bis  bc-inj 
stoned,"  .Ic.,  which,  however,  cannot  have  been  the  meaning  of  the  translators,  aud  cerfciinly  not  of  the  Hebrew  auth.T. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  makes  no  sense  to  say,  "No  hnnd  sliall  touch  the  mountain,  hut  on  the  contrary  ho  shall  be  atoned." 
The  meaning  must  he:  "No  hand  shall  touch  him,"  t.  e.,  the  offender;  "but  ha  shall  be  killed  without  such  contact  by 
being  stoned  or  shot."— Tb.]. 

s  (The  last  two  verbs  in  this  verse  are  in  the  Imperfect  tense,  and  hence  express  continued  action.  The  Hebrew  does 
not  say,  "  i<j*«t  the  voice  ....  waxed  louder  and  1  luder,  [then]  Moses  spake,"  etc.,  esp.'cially  not,  if  "  when  "  is  under- 
stood to  bo  equivalent  to  "after."    Wo  have  endeavored  to  give  the  true  sense  by  the  participial  rendering.— Ta.] 


CHAP.  XIX.  1-25. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

1.  Sinai  and  the  Arrival  there. 

A  full  geographical  treatise  on  the  whole  Ho- 
reb  group,  and  especially  Sinai,  ia  given  by  Rilter 
Vlll.  2,  p.  527  sqq.;  Robinson,  1.,  p.  140  sqq.; 
TischenJorf,  Aus  dem  heiligen  Lande,  p.  01  sqq.; 
Strauss,  p.  133  sqq.  See  also  the  lexicons  and 
commentaries.  We  quote  from  Zeller's  Biblisches 
WiJrterbuch,  II.,  p.  482:  "A  few  remarks  on  the 
question  respecting  the  scene  of  the  giving  of  the 
I'lw.  There  are  two  different  localities  which 
have  their  advocates.  Some  find  the  place  in 
Sinai  proper,  Jebel  Musa  and  the  plain  es-Se- 
baiyeh  lying  south  of  it;  others,  in  the  north- 
ern terrace  of  Sinai,  that  which  ia  now  called 
Horeb,  especially  the  peak  of  Ras  es-Safsafeh, 
with  the  plain  er-Rahah,  which  etretchea  out 
before  it  in  the  north.  Both  plains  would  be  in 
themselves  suitable  for  the  purpose;  for  they  are 
about  equally  large,  and  furnish  room  for  the 
marshalling  of  a  Lirge  multitude.  Each  is  so 
sharply  distinguished  from  the  mountain  rising 
up  from  it  that  the  latter  might  in  the  most  literal 
sense  be  said  to  be  touched  by  one  in  the  plain; — 
which  gives  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  ex- 
pression used  by  Moses  (Ex.  xix.  12):  'whoso- 
ever louckelh  the  mount,'  etc.  Yet  perhaps  the 
weight  of  the  evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  southern 
plain,  es-Sebaiyeh.  For  ( 1 )  the  mountains  within 
which  the  plain  reposes,  like  a  secluded  asylum, 
rise  up  from  it  in  an  amphitheatrioal  form  and 
very  gradually,  and  therefore  its  slopes  could 
hivve  been  used  for  the  marshalling  of  the  people 
if  at  any  time  there  was  not  quite  space  enough 
in  the  plain  itself;  whereas  the  mountains  bor- 
dering on  the  plain  er-Rahah  are  so  abrupt  and 
steep  that  they  could  not  have  been  used  for  this 
purpose.  (2)  The  plain  er-Rahahhasawater-shed 
from  which  the  ground  to  the  north  falls  away 
more  and  more,  so  that  to  the  view  of  those  stand- 
ing there,  Ras  es-Safsafeh  must  have  become 
less  and  less'  prominent,  whereas  the  plain  cs- 
Sebaiyeh  rises  higher  and  higher  towards  the 
south,  and  Jebel  Musa  or  Sinai  becomes  more 
and  more  majestic  in  appearance.  (3)  The 
view  on  the  south  side  of  Sinai,  where  this  moun- 
tain lowers  up  perpendicularly  nearly  2000  feet, 
like  an  immense  altar,  is  decidedly  more  grand. 
(4)  In  Ex.  xix.  17  it  is  said  that  Moses  brought 
the  people  out  of  the  camp  to  meet  God.  Now 
we  can  hardly  conceive  a  place  better  fitted  for 
a  camping-place  than  the  plain  er-Rahah  with 
the  valleys  and  pastures  of  the  environs,  espe- 
cially the  wady  es-Sheikh  closely  adjoining  it. 
But  if  this  was  the  camping-place,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  place  where  the  people  were  drawn 
up  at  the  time  of  the  giving  of  the  law,  how 
are  we  to  conceive  of  that  bringing  forth  out  of 
the  camp?  This  expression  would  have  no  mean- 
iug.  Whereas  this  expression  becomes  full  of 
appositeness,  if  we  assume  the  plain  er-Rahah  on 
the  north  of  Horeb  lo  be  the  camping-place,  but 
the  plain  es-Sebaiyeh  south  of  Jebel  ilusa  to  be 
the  standing-place  of  the  people  when  the  law 
was  given.  From  that  northern  plain  600,000 
men  (tor  children  and  minors,  as  well  as  women 
and  old  men  doubtless  remained  behind  in  the 
camp  J  might  well  have  gone  in  the  course  of  a 


day  through  the  short  wadies  es-Sebaiyeh  and 
Shoeib  into  the  southern  plain,  and  back  again 
into  the  camp;  for  the  distance  is  only  a  short 
hour's  journey." — On  the  difliculties  attending 
the  combination  of  both  places,  see  Keil,  II.,  p. 
94.  The  expression,  "Israel  camped  before  the 
mount"  (ver.  2),  is  certainly  opposed  to  the  as- 
sumption of  two  camps  over  against  two  moun- 
tains. Comp.  the  graphic  description  in  Strauss. 
On  the  relation  between  the  names  Sinai  and 
Horeb,  comp.  Kuobel,  p.  188.  Note:  (1)  that 
the  whole  region  is  named,  after  the  mountain 
where  the  law  was  given,  sometimes  Sinai,  some- 
times Horeb;  (2)  thatHoreb,  beingreached  while 
the  people  were  in  Rephidim,  may  include  Sinai; 
(3)  that  Horeb,  as  a  separate  mountain,  lies  to 
the  north  of  Sinai,  and  therefore  was  first  reached 
by  the  Israelites.  See  also  Keil,  p.  90,  and  Phi- 
lippson,  p.  403. — This  group  of  lofiy  granite 
mountains  cannot  primarily  be  designed  to  serve 
as  a  terror  to  sinners;  it  rather  represents  the 
majesty  and  immovable  fixedness  of  God's  moral 
revelation,  of  His  law,  in  a  physical  form;  it  is 
therefore  a  positive,  imposing  fact,  which  disse- 
minates no  life,  yet  on  which  the  sinner's  false  life 
may  bedashed  to  destruction. — "Lepsius'  hypo- 
thesis, that  Sinai  or  Horeb  is  to  be  looked  for  in 
Mt.  Serbal,  has  rightly  met  no  approval.  In  op- 
position to  it  consult  Dieterici,  kcisebilder,  11.,  p. 
53  sqq.;  Ritler,  iTrrftfwtrfe,  XIV.,  p.  738sqq.;  and 
Kurtz,  History,  etc..  III.,  p.  93"  (Keil). 

The  Arrival  at  Sinai.— In  the  third  month. 
Two  months  then  have  passed  thus  far,  of  wliich 
probably  the  greater  part  belongs  to  the  encamp- 
ment in  Elim  and  Rephidim.  The  same  day.— 
According  to  the  Jewish  tradition  this  means  on 
the  first  day  of  the  third  month,  but  grammati- 
cally it  may  be  taken  more  indefinitely  =  "  at  this 
time." 

2.  Jehovah's  Proposal  of  a  Covenant,  and  the 
Assent  of  the  People.    Vers.  3-8. 

And  Moses  went  up. — On  Sinai  Moses  re- 
ceived his  commission  from  Jehovah  to  lead  out 
the  people.  Therefore  he  must  now  again  appear 
before  Jehovah  on  Sinai,  to  complete  his  first 
mission,  and  receive  Jehovah's  further  com- 
mands. It  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  fol- 
lowing transaction  concerning  the  covenant,  that 
Jehovah  calls  out  to  Moses  as  he  goes  up.  A 
covenant  is  a  coming  together  of  two  parties.  It 
has  been  said  indeed,  that  JT'"]3,  dinSi/K?/,  testa- 
mentum,  means,  not  co!)<?«an;,  but  institution.  It 
is  true,  the  divine  institution  is  the  starting- 
point  and  foundation,  but  the  product  of  this  in- 
stitution is  the  covenant.  This  is  true  of  all  the 
covenants  throughout  the  Bible.  They  every- 
where presuppose  personal  relations,  recipro- 
city, freedom;  /.  «.,  free  self-determination. 

So  here  the  people  are  induced  by  Jehovah's 
proposal  to  declare  their  voluntary  adoption  of 
the  covenant  (ver.  8).  After  this  general  adop- 
tion of  the  covenant,  there  follows  a  special  adop- 
tion of  the  covenant  law,  xxiv.  3.  Not  till  after 
this  does  the  solemn  covenant  transaction  take 
place,  in  which  the  people  again  avow  their  as- 
sent, their  free  subjection  to  the  law  of  Jehovah 
(xxiv.  7).  This  relation  is  so  far  from  being  an 
absolute  enslavement  of  the  human  individuality 


by  the  majesty  of  the  divine  personality,  as  }!«■ 
gel  imagines  (Vol.  xi.  2,  4i3),  that  on  the  basis 
of  this  relation  the  notion  of  a  briJal  anJ  conju 
gal  relation  between  Jehofah  and  His  peopU 
gradually  comes  to  view.  But  the  characteristic 
leature  of  the  law  is,  that  it  rests,  in  general, 
a  germ  of  idealiiy,  of  knowledge,  of  redempti 
but,  in  particular,  everywhere  requires  an  i 
coudiiional,  and  even  blind,  obedience.  Hence 
it  may  be  said:  In  general  it  is  </oc//(«e  (Thorali), 
in  particular  it  is  statute.  The  ideal  and  empiri- 
cal basis  is  the  typical  redemption:  I  am  Jeho- 
vah, thy  God,  that  have  brouglit  thee  out  of 
Egypt,  etc.,  as  a  fact  of  divine  goodness  and 
grace;  and  the  spirit  of  it  is  expressed  in  the 
rhythmically  solemn  form  in  which  the  covenant 
is  proclaimed  in  vers.  3-0.  The  parallel  phrases, 
"House  of  Jacob,"  and  "Chihlren  of  Israel," 
present  in  conjunction  the  natui-al  descent  of  the 
people,  and  tiie  spiritual  blessings  allotted  to 
theiu.  Ye  have  seen.— A  certain  degree  of 
religious  experience  is  essential  in  order  to  be 
able  to  enter  into  covenant  relations  with  Jeho- 
vah. This  experience  is  specifically  an  experience 
of  the  sway  of  His  justice  over  His  enemies,  and 
of  His  grace  over  His  chosen  people.  Eagles' 
■wings, — ■"  The  eagle's  wings  are  an  image  of  the 
strong  and  aifectionate  care  of  God ;  for  the  eagle 
ciierishes  and  fosters  her  young  very  carefully; 
she  &iL's  under  them,  when  she  lakes  them  out  of  the 
nest,  in  order  that  they  may  not  fall  down  upon 
rocks  and  injure  themselves  or  perish.  Conip.  Dent. 
xxxii.  11,  and  illustrations  from  profane  wi^ieis, 
iuBochart,i7"«roz.lI.,pp.762,7l35sqq."  (Keil).— 
And  brought  you  uato  myself. — Knobcl: 
to  the  dwelling-place  on  Sinai.  Keil:  unto  my 
protocliou  and  care.  It  probably  means:  to  the 
revelation  of  myself  in  the  form  of  law,  symbol- 
ized indeed  by  the  sanctuary  of  the  lawgiver,  viz., 
Sinai.  But  that  is  a  very  outward  pon'^eption  of 
Keil's,  that  the  pillar  of  cloud  probably  retired 
to  mount  Sinai.  Now  therefore,  if  ye  will 
obey  my  voice  indeed. — According  to  Keil 
the  promise  precedes  the  requirement,  "forGods 
grace  always  anticipates  man's  action;  it  de- 
mauds  nothing  before  it  has  given."  But  here 
evidently  the  requirement  precedes  the  promise ; 
and  this  is  appropriate  to  the  legal  religion 
of  Moses  in  the  narrower  sense.  In  the  pa- 
triarchal religion  of  Abraham  the  promise  pre- 
cedes the  requirement;  under  .Moses  the  require- 
ment precedes  the  promise,  but  not  till  after  the 
fulfilment  of  a  former  patriarchal  promise,  au 
act  of  redemption,  had  preceded  the  requirement. 
The  requirement  is  very  definite  and  deciiled, 
accordant  with  the  law. — The  promise  is,  first: 
Ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure  unto  me. — 
Keil  says  :  n9Jp  signifies  not  possession  in  gene- 
ral, but  a,  precious  possession,  which  one  saves, 
lays  up  ('7J3),  hence  treasure  of  gold  and  silver, 
1  Cliron.  xxix.  3,  etc.  {?.abi;  nepiovatoq,  etc.  Mai. 
iii.  17;  Tit.  ii.  14;  1  Pet.  ii.  9).  We  translate, 
"abiivR  all  penple,"  not,  "out  of  all  people,"  in 
accordance  with  the  following  words:  for  all 
the  earth  is  mine. — "  This  reason  for  choosing 
Israel  at  once  guards  against  the  exclusiveness 
which  would  rcgaril  Jehovah  as  merely  a  national 
God"  (Keil).  it  may  be  observed  that  the  peo- 
ple are  to  be  as  distinctively  the  lot  (/vX//,joj-)  of 


Jehovah,  as  Jehovah  desires  to  be  the  lot  of  His 
people.— In  the  second  place,  the  first  promise, 
or  the  nbpo,  is  explained:  Ye  shall  be  unto 
me  a  kingdom  of  priests.- The  LXX.  trans- 
late, jiaaiAeiov  lepaTeofia;  bo  Peter,  1  Pet.  ii.  9. 
t)ukelos:  "kings,  priests."  Jonathan:  "crowned 
kings,  ministering  priests."  According  to  the 
Hebrew  text,  the  kingdom  as  a  unit,  or  the  realm 
as  a  body  of  citizens,  is  a  nation  of  priests.  The 
individuals  are  priests;  the  unity  of  their  com- 
monwealth is  a  kingdom,  whose  king  is  Jehovah. 
It  is  therefore  a  kingdom  whose  royal  authority 
operates  every  way  to  liberate  and  ennoble,  to 
sanctify  and  dignify;  the  pi-icsts  are  related  to 
the  king;  in  their  totality  under  the  king  they 
constitute  the  priesthood,  but  only  under  the 
condition  that  they  offer  sacrifice  as  priests. 
The  N.  T.  lerin,  "a  royal  priesthood,"  derived 
from  the  LXX.,  merges  the  sevcial  priests  in  the 
higher  unity  of  a  single  priesthood,  whose  attri- 
bute, "royal,"  expresses  the  truth  that  the  king, 
through  his  royal  spirit,  has  incorporated  him- 
self into  the  midst  of  his  people.  All  this,  now, 
the  Israelites  are  to  be,  in  their  general  attitude, 
first  in  the  typical  sense,  which  points  forward 
to  the  actual  fulfilment,  and  prophetically  in- 
cludes it.  Keil,  therefore,  is  wrong  in  saying 
that  "the  notion  of  theocracy  or  diviue  rule  (re- 
ferring to  the  preceding  explanations.  It.,  p.  97), 
as  founded  by  the  establishment  of  the  Sinaitio 
covenant,  does  not  at  all  lie  in  the  phrase  XID/DD 
D'pnb  ['kingdom  of  priests'].  The  theocracy 
established  by  the  formation  of  the  covenant 
(chap,  xxiv.)  is  only  the  means  by  which  Jeho- 
vah designs  to  make  His  chosen  people  a  king- 
dom of  priests."  Whilst  here  the  theocracy  is 
made  not  even  a  type,  but  only  the  medium 
of  a  type,  of  the  New  Testament  kingdom 
of  heaven,  the  people  of  Israel  are  raised 
high  above  their  typical  significance  (p.  98), 
much  as  is  done  in  the  Judaizing  theories  of 
Hofmanu  and  others.  The  relations  are  rather 
quite  homogeneous:  a  typical  people,  atypical 
kingdom  of  God,  a  typical  law,  a  typical  sacri- 
fice, etc.  On  the  other  hand,  Keil's  sentiment, 
that  Israel,  as  a  nation  of  priests,  has  a  part  to 
act  in  behalf  of  other  people,  is  every  way  accord- 
ant with  the  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  with 
the  New  Testament.  (Isa.  xlii. ;  Rom.  xi.  15; 
XV.  IG.)  And  a  holy  nation. — The  notion  of 
the  holiness  of  Jehovah  first  appears  in  chap.  xv. 
Here  the  notion  of  a  holy  people.  The  holiness 
of  Jehovah  is  the  originating  cause  of  the  crea- 
tion of  a  holy  people.  On  the  various  explana- 
tions of  the  notion  of  holiness,  vid.  Keil,  p.  99. 
Neither  the  notion  of  newness  or  brilliancy,  nor 
that  of  purity  or  clearness  satisfies  the  concrete 
import  of  holiness.  Jehovah  keeps  Himself  pure 
in  His  personality,  He  protects  His  glory  by  His 
purity.  His  universality  by  His  particularity — 
thus  is  He  the  Holy  One.  And  so  He  creates  for 
Himself  a  holy  people  that  in  a  peculiar  sense 
exist  for  Him,  separated  from  the  ungodly  world, 
as  He  in  a  peculiar  sense  exists  for  them,  and 
keeps  Himself  aloof  from  notions  and  forms  of 
worship  that  conflict  with  true  views  of  His  per- 
sonality.    The  opposite  of  5?np  is  '7n,  Koivdg, 


71 


pror.mus"  (Kcil).  See  the  passages  1  Pet.  i.  15; 
conip.  Lev.  xi.  41;  xis.  2.— And  all  the  people 
answered  together.  Thus  a  historical,  posi- 
tive, conscious  oiiUgation  is  entered  into,  rest- 
ing, it  is  true,  oa  an  obligation  inherent  in  the 
nature  of  things. 

3.  Provisions  for  the  Negotiation  of  the  Covenant. 
Vers.  9-13. 

First:  Jehovah  will  reveal  Himself  to  Moses  in 
the  thick  olou.l.  The  people  are  to  listen  while  He 
talks  with  .Moses.  Keil  seems  to  assume  that  the 
people  also  are  to  hear  with  their  own  ears  the 
words  of  the  fundamental  law.  But  vers.  16-19 
show  what  is  meant  by  the  people's  hearing. 
The  sound  of  thunder  and  of  the  trumpet  which 
the  people  hear  sanctions  the  words  which  Moses 
hears.  In  consequence  of  this  the  people  are  to 
believe  him  for  ever.  The  perpetual  belief  in 
Moses  is  the  perpetual  belief  in  the  revelation 
and  authority  of  the  law.  What  follows  shows 
that  m:di itely  the  people  did  hear  the  words. 

Secondly  :  The  people,  in  order  to  receive  the 
law,  are  to  be  sanctified  for  three  days,  i.  e.,  are 
to  dispose  themselves  to  give  exclusive  attention 
to  it.  The  symbolical  expression  for  this  con- 
sists in  their  washing  their  garments,  ceremo- 
nially purifying  them.  It  shows  a  want  of  ap- 
preciation of  propriety  to  include,  as  Keil  does, 
the  explanatory  precept  of  ver.  15  among  the  im- 
mediate requirements  of  Jehovah. 

Thirdly  :  The  people  are  to  be  kept  back  by  a 
fence  enclosing  the  mountain.  That  is,  the  re- 
straining of  the  people  from  profaning  the  moun- 
tain as  the  throne  of  legislation  serves  to  protect 
them;  comp.  the  significance  of  the  parables  in 
Matt.  xiii.  The  transgressor  is  exposed  to  capital 
punishment;  but  inasmuch  as  his  transgression 
finds  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  limit,  no  one 
could  seize  him  without  himself  becoming  guilty 
of  the  transgression;  hence  the  direction  that 
he  should  be  killed  from  a  distance  with  stones 
or  darts.*  Consistency  requires  that  the  same 
should  be  done  with  beasts  that  break  through. 
Reverence  for  the  law  is  thus  to  be  cultivated  by 
the  most  terrifying  and  rigorous  means.  When 
the  trumpet.  ^3'n. ''3''n  p|)=-i3ity.  "To  draw 
out  the  horn  [as  the  Hebrew  expresses  it]  is  the 
same  as  to  blow  the  horn  in  prolonged  notes" 
( Keil).  Vid.  Winer,  Rcalworterbuch,  Art.  Mmiha- 
lische  Instrumente.  It  is  a  question  when  the  pro- 
hibition to  co.iie  near  the  mountain  was  to  be 
terminated.  According  to  Keil,  a  signal  was  to 
be  given  summoning  the  people  to  approach,  and 
that  then  the  people,  as  represented  by  the  elders, 
were  to  ascend  the  mountain.  But  nothing  is 
anywhere  said  of  such  a  signal.  It  is  simpler, 
with  Knobel,  thus  to  understand  the  direction: 
"When  at  the  close  of  the  divine  appearances 
and  communications  an  alarm  is  sounded,  and  so 
the  people  are  summoned  to  start,  to  separate."! 
When  the  tabernacle  was  finished,  this  became 
the  sacred  meeting-place  of  the  people,  to  which 
they  were  called.     Soon  afterwards  the  trumpets 


summoned  them  to  set  forth,  perhaps  re-enforced, 
on  account  of  the  importance  of  the  occasion,  by 
the  jubilee  horn,  or  itself  identified  with  it. 

4.  The  Preparation  of  the  People.    Vers.  14, 15. 
The  direction  given  by  Jehovah  respecting  the 

sanciification  of  the  people  is  further  explained 
by  Aloses.  The  distinction  between  the  divine 
revelation  and  the  human  expansion  of  it  appears 
here  as  in  1  Cor.  vii. 

5.  The  Sii/na  accompani/inj  the  Appearance  of 
Jehovah,  the  Lawi/iver,  on  Sinai.     Vers.  16-19. 

And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day. 
Here  is  another  prominent  element  in  the  mira- 
cle of  Sinai,  that  is  generally  overlooked,  viz., 
the  fact  that  Moses  through  divine  illuminalioa 
so  definitely  predicted  that  the  miraculous  occur- 
rence would  take  place  in  three  days.  By  iden- 
tifying him  all  along  with  God's  revelation  the 
miraculous  mystery  of  his  inner  life  is  oblite- 
rated. That  there  were  thunders  and  light- 
nings.—All  this  animated  description  of  the 
miraculous  event  Keil  takes  literally,  and  follow- 
ing Deut.  iv.  11,  V.  20  (23),  expands  the  account, 
altkough  if  the  mountain  was  burning  in  the 
liter.al  sense  of  the  word  so  that  its  flame  as- 
cended up  to  heaven,  there  would  be  no  place  for 
clouds  and  cloudy  darkness.  In  a  thunder-storm 
are  united  both  nocturnal  darkness  and  flaming 
light.  Keil  quotes  various  conjectures  concern- 
ing the  trumpet  sound.  No  reference  is  had 
(0  the  trumpet  sound  made  by  the  voice  of 
God  in  the  ghostly  sphere  of  the  remorseful  con- 
science of  a  whole  people.  But  comp.  John  xii. 
29.  That  the  darkness  indicates  the  invisibility 
and  unapproachableness  of  the  holy  God  who 
veils  Himself  from  mortals  even  when  He  dis- 
closes Himself,  is  evident  from  all  the  analogies 
of  clouds  up  to  the  sacred  one  in  which  Christ 
ascended.  Fire  has  a  twofold  side,  according  to 
man's  attitude  towards  the  divine  government ; 
it  is  therefore,  as  Keil  says,  at  once  the  fire  of  the 
zeal  of  anger  and  the  zeal  of  love.  To  unite  both 
ideas  in  one,  it  is  the  fire  of  the  power  that  sanc- 
tifies, which  therefore  purges,  transforms,  vivi- 
fies, and  draws  upward,  as  is  shown  by  the  as- 
cension of  Elijah  and  the  phenomena  of  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  The  same  is  true  of  thunder. 
Since  the  law  is  now  given  for  the  first  time,  this 
can  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  thunder  of  the 
last  judgment.  Vid.  on  Revelation,  p.  197. — 
All  the  people  trembled.  While  in  this  mood 
they  are  led  by  Moses  out  of  the  camp  to  the  foot 
of  the  mountain.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  hardly  to  be 
supposed  that  this  denotes  a  march  from  the  plain 
of  Rahah  into  that  of  Sebaiyeh.  "  The  people, 
i.e.,  the  men,"  says  Keil, — a  limitation  for  %vhich 
tliere  is  little  reason. — And  all  mount  Sinai 
smoked.— The  view  of  the  scene  is  renewed 
and  intensified,  the  nearer  the  people  come  to  the 
foot  of  the  mountain.  Moses  speaking,  and 
God  answering. — Glorious  definition  of  the 
nature  of  law !  All  of  God's  commands  are, 
BO  to  speak,  answers  to  the  commands  and  ques- 
tions of  God's  chosen  servant;  they  grow  out  of 
a  reciprocal  action  of  God  and  the  inmost  heart 
of  humanity. 

6.  The  Calling  of  Moses  alone  up  to  the  Mount, 
etc.    Vers.  20-25. 

And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses. — There 
must  be  some  significance  in  the  fact  that  Moses 


is  required  again  to  tlescenj  from  Sinai,  in  orJer 
repeatedly  to  cliarge  tlie  people  not  to  cross  the 
limit  in  order  to  gaze,  because  by  this  sin  many 
might  perish.  This  direction  is  now  even  extended 
to  the  priests;  and  in  accordance  with  their  posi- 
tion they  are  exposed  to  the  sentence  of  death  even 
in  the  camp  unless  they  sanctify  themselves;  only 
Aaron  is  permitted  to  go  up  in  company  with 
Moses.  So  sharp  a  distinction  is  made  between 
the  theocratic  life  of  the  people,  between  the 
sphere  of  sacerdotal  ordinances  (which,  there- 
fore, already  exist),  and  the  sphere  of  revelation, 
of  which  Moses  is  the  organ.  That  Aaron  is  al- 
lowed to  accompany  him  when  the  first  oral  reve- 
lation of  the  law  is  made,  indicates  that  in  and 
with  him  the  priests,  and  gradually  also  the 
whole  priestly  nation,  which  begins  to  assume 
a  priestly  relation  to  mankind  in  the  near  pre- 
sence of  the  law,  are  to  be  lifted  up  into  the  light 
of  revelation.  Various  views  of  this  passage, 
especially  a  discussion  of  Kurtz's  opinion,  are  to 
be  found  in  Keil.  Knobel  finds  here  "an  interpo- 
lation of  the  Jehovist." 

Inasmuch  now  as  the  narrative  makes  the  law 
of  the  ten  commandments  follow  immediately, 
whilst  Moses  .seems  to  be  standing  below  with 
the  people,  a  literal  interpretation  concludes  that 


Jehovah  communicated  the  ten  commandments 
down  from  Mt.  Sinai  immediately  to  the  people, 
.and  so  "  the  fundamental  law  of  the  theocracy 
has  a  precedence  over  all  others"  (Knobel;  see 
also  Keil,  p.  106).  The  fact  that  Jehovah  has 
already  given  answer  to  Moses  on  the  mountain, 
is  overlooked;  as  also  the  passages  xxiv.  15  sqq. ; 
xxxiv. ;  Deut.  v.  5,  xxxiii.  4,  to  say  nothing  of 
Gal.  iii.  and  other  passages.  It  is  true,  the  re- 
presentation here  is  designed  to  make  the  im- 
pression that  the  law  of  the  ten  commandments, 
although  mediated  by  Moses,  has  yet  the  same 
authority  as  if  Jehovah  had  spoken  it  directly  to 
the  people  from  Sinai;  and  no  less  does  it  ex- 
press the  pre-eminent  importance  of  the  tea 
commandments.  The  following  distinctions  are 
marked:  As  or.al  (or  spiritual)  words  Moses  re- 
ceives the  divine  answers  on  the  mountain  (xix. 
19).  Then  God  addresses  the  same  words  from 
Sinai  in  the  voices  of  thunder  to  the  people  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain;  and  Moses,  who  stands 
below  with  the  people,  is  the  interpreter  of  these 
voices,  as  is  clearly  shown  by  Deut.  v.  5.  This 
oral,  spiritual  law  of  principles,  which  is  echoed 
in  the  conscience  of  all  the  people,  as  if  Jehovah 
were  directly  talking  with  them,  is  the  founda- 
tion for  the  establishment  and  enforcement  of  the 
written  law  engraved  on  the  stone  tablets. 


SECOND    SECTION. 


The  Threefold  Law  of  the  Covenant  for  the  Covenant  People  on  the  Basis  of  the 
Prophetic,  Ethioo-religious  Divine  Law  of  the  Ten  Commandments.  Histo- 
rical Prophecy. 

Chapteks  XX.— XXXI. 

A.— THE  TEN  WORDS,  OR  THE  ETHICAL  LAW;   AND  THE  TERRIFIED  PEOPLE, 
OR  THE  RISE  OF  THE  NEED  OF  SACRIFICIAL  RITES. 

Chaptek  XX.  1-21. 
1,  2     And  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying,  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  which  [who] 

3  have  bfought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.     Thou 

4  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me  [over  against  me].'     Thou  shaltuot  make  unto 
thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or 


TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  (Tlie  exact  meaning  of  "ja-Sj?  here  aud  in  Dent.  v.  7  is  disputed.  The  rendering  "  before  me"  wasdoulitiess  meant 
by  our  Translators  to  convey  tlie  notion,  "in  my  presence"  =  'J£)7.  Perhaps  the  ordinary  reader  is  apt  to  understand  it 
to  mean,  "  in  preference  to  me."  Luther,  Kalisch,  Geddei,  Keil,  Kuohel,  Bnnsen,  and  Eigrgs  (Sug>jaili-i!  Emendati'ms).  follow- 
ing tlie  LXX.  (n-A/)!/  e/xoyj,  translate,  "besides  me."  De  WL*tte,  Rosenmiiller,  Maurer,  Philippson,  Fiirst,  -Vrulieim,  Bash, 
Murpliy,  Cook  (in  Spe.aker's  Commentary),  and  Lange,  following  the  Vulgate  ("  coram  me"),  translate  "bi-fore  me,"  i.  e..  in 
my  presence.  In  order  to  a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  question,  it  is  necessary  to  investigate  the  nsi-  of  the  plirnsa 
'J3-S;r  in  general.  An  examination  of  all  tlio  passages  in  which  it  occurs  yields  the  following  result :  The  phrase,  fol- 
lowed hy  a  Genitive  or  a  Pronominal  Suffix,  occurs  210  times.  In  125  of  these  cases,  it  has  its  literal  senie  -if  "  upon  the  face 
(or  surfiine)  of;"  «.%  e.g.,  2  Sam.  xvii.  19,  "  The  woman  tool;  and  spread  a  covering  over  the  well's  mouth ;"  Gen.  1. 1,  "  Joseph 
fell  upon  his  father's  face ;"  or  it  is  merely  a  longer  form  for  the  simpler '7^'  (upon);  as,  e.  ff.,  Job  v.  10,  "Who  . . .  seudeth 
waters  upon  the  fields."  The  remaining  85  cases  are  divided  as  follows:  (1)  23  times  'JS-Sj?  is  nsed  in  describing  the 
relalion  nf  lomWrs  lo  each  other.  E.  g.,  Judg.  xvi.  3,  "  Samaon carried  them  up  to  the  top  of  an  hill  that  is  before  He- 
bron."   Sometimes  (and  more  properly)  in  such  cases  the  phrase  is  rendered  "over  against"  in  the  A.  V.    The  other  pas- 


CHAP.  XX.  1-21. 


5  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  m  in  the  water  under  the  earth.  Thou 
shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them:  for  I  Jehovah  thy  God 
am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  [upon] 

6  the  third  and  [and  upon  the]  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me;  And  shuw- 

7  ing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my  command- 
ments.    Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  Jehovah  thy  God  in  vain ;  for  Jehovah 

Bages  in  which  'JD-Si^  is  thns  used  are  Gen.  xxiii.  19 ;  xst.9,1S;  xlix.30;  1.13;  Num.  xxi.  11 ;  xxxiii.7;  Deut.  xxxii. 
49;  X3xiv.  1;  Josh.  xiii.  3,  25;  jtT.  8  ;  Tvii.  7;  xviii.  U,  16;  xix.  11;  1  Sam.  xv.  7;  xxri.  1,  3;  2  Sam.  ii.  24;  1  Kings  xi.  7; 
xvii.  3,  lo ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  13;  Ezek.  xlviii.  15, 21 ;  Zech.  xiv.  4.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  some  do,  that  in  th.-so  con- 
nections 'i3-hj?  means  "  to  the  east  of;"  according  to  the  Hebrew  mode  of  conceiving  of  the  cardinal  points.  For  in  Josh. 
xviii.  14  we' read  of  "  the  hill  that  lieth  before  ('JS-Si')  Beth-horon  soiUhieard ;"  and  in  Josh.  xv.  8,  of  "  the  top  of  the 
mountain  that  lieth  before  the  valley  of  Hinnom  treshrnrd.''^  We  are  rather  to  suppose  that  the  phrase  indicates  such  a  re- 
lation of  two  plaKB  as  is  expressed  by  "  over  against,"  the  physical  conformation  of  the  localities  naturally  suggesting  such 
a  description.— (2)  We  observe,  next,  that  13  times  'JiJ-Sj,'  is  used  of  the  posititm  of  things  in  relation  to  bnildmgs.    E.  g., 

1  Kings  vi.  3,  « the  porch  before  the  temple."  In  the  same  verse  'JS-bi'  occurs  twice  more  in  the  same  sense.  The  other 
passages  are  1  Kings  vii.  6  (lis);  viii.  8;2Chron.  iii.  4  (W«l,  8, 17;  v.  9;  Ezek.  xl.  15;  xlii.  8.  In  these  cases  the  meaning  is 
obvious:  "  on  the  front  of,"  "confronting."— (3)  Six  times 'JiJ-'?^' is  used  in  the  sense  of  "towards"  or  "down  upon"  after 

verbs  of  looking,  or  (once)  of  going.    E.  g..  Gen.  xviii.  16,  "  The  men looked  toward  (' J3"7>*.  down  upon) 

Sodom."  So  Gen.  xix.  28  (his).  Num.  rxi.  20;  xxiii.  28;  2  Sam.  xv.  23.  Here  "JS-S^'  may  be  regarded  as  a  fuller  form 
of  Si'  as  sometimes  used  after  verbs  of  motion.— 1^4)  Five  times  it  is  used  after  verbs  signifying  "  pass  by,"  and  is  rendered 
"before."    E  <7 ,  Ex.  xxxiii.  19,  "Iwill  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee."    So  Ex.xxxiv.6;  Gen.  xxxii.  22  (21); 

2  Sam.  XV.  18;  Job  iv.  15.  In  these  passages  'Jp-^J?  differs  from  'JflS  as  used,  e.  g.,  in  2  Kings  iv.  31,  "Gehazi 
passed  on  before  them  ;"  where 'JsS  indicates  that  Gehazi  went  on  in  odraiu:^  of  the  others;  whereas,  c.  j.,  in  2  Sam.  xv.  IS, 
the  meaning  is  that  the  king  stopped,  and  the  others  wml  bij  hira.— (5)  In  12  passages  ".JS-S^n  is  used  after  verbs  meaning 
to  "  cast  out,"  and  is  usually  rendered  "  from  the  presence  (or  sight)  of."  They  are  1  Kings  ix.  7 ;  2  Kings  xiii.  23 ; 
xvii.  18, 23 ;  xxiv.  3,  20 ;  2  Chron.  vu.  20 ;  Jer.  vii.  15 ;  xv.  1 ;  xxiii.  39 ;  xxxii.  31 ;  Iii.  3.  Possibly  also  Gen.  xxiii.  3,  "Abraham 
stood  up /rom  befom  his  dead,"  i.  e.,  went  away  from  the  presence  of;  but  we  may  understand  it  more  literally,  viz.,  "stood 
up  from  upon  the  face  of."  There  is  a  manifest  difference  between  '33~7>*0  and  '33  73.  The  former  is  used  of  a  remo- 
val from  a  state  of  Juxtaposition  or  opposition.  The  latter  is  used  in  llie  stricter  sense  of  "  from  before."  E.  g.,  in  Deut.  ix. 
4,  "For  the  wickedness  of  these  nations  the  Lord  doth  drive  them  out  from  before  thee  (^'J3^3)."  Here  it  is  not  meant 
that  the  relation  between  the  Jews  and  the  other  nations  was  to  be  broken  np,  but  rather  that  it  was  never  to  bo  formed ; 
whereas,  e.  17.,  in  Jer.  vii.  15,  "I  will  cast  you  out  of  my  sight,"  the  implication  is  that  the  people  had  been  near  Jehovah, 
but  were  now  to  be  banished.— (6)  Four  times  "JS-Si'  is  used  with  the  meaning,  "  to  the  face  of."  E.  g..  Is.  Ixv.  3,  "A 
people  that  provoketh  me  to  anger  continually  to  my  face."  So  Job  i.  11  (parallel  with  ii.  5,  where  '33~7X  is  used)  ;  vi. 
28  (as  correctly  rendered) ;  xxi.  31.  Here  the  notion  of  hoslilitg,  often  expressed  by  the  simple  ^^,  is  involved.— Similar  to 
these  are  (7)  the  three  passages,  Ezek.  xxxii.  10,  Nah.  ii.  2  (1),  and  Ps.  ixi.  13  (12),  where  '3,3-S;?_  is  used  after  verbs  descrip- 
tive of  hostile  demonstrations,  and  means  either,  literally,  "against  the  face  of,"  or  "  over  against."  in  defiance.— <8)  In  Ex. 
XX.  20,  where  the  A.  V.  renders,  "  that  his  fear  may  be  before  your  faces,"  the  meaning  clearly  is  the  same  as  in  such  ex- 
pressions as  Ex.  XV.  16,  whore  the  simple  h)?  is  used.  So  Bent.  ii.  25.— (9)  In  one  case,  Ps.  xviii.  43  (42),  'ja-bi^  '^  used 
of  the  dust  "  before"  the  wind,  jnst  as  'JdS  is  used  in  Job  xxi.  18,  "They  are  as  stubble  before  the  wind."— (10)  The  pas- 
sage, Job  xvi.  14,  "  He  breaketh  me  with  breach  upon  ('33-S,J')  breach,"  has  no  precise  parallel.  But  here,  too,  it  is  most 
natural  to  vinderstand  '  JD'Si'  as  a  fuller,  poetic  form  for  S^'.  Comp.  Gen.  xxxii.  12  (11),  "  the  mother  with  ("7^^)  the  chil- 
dren;" Amos  iii.  l.i,  "I  will  smite  the  winter-house  with  (hy,  '■  «.,  together  with,  in  addition  to)  the  summer-house."— (11) 
There  are  three  passages  (possibly  four),  in  which  'J3-Sj.'  bas  a  peculiar  meaning,  as  denoting  the  rehition  of  two  persons 
to  each  other.  Haran,  we  at«  told.  Gen.  xi.  28,  "  died'  before  C33-Si5  his  father  Terah."  This  seems  to  mean,  "  died  befcro 
his  father  did."  But  though  such  a  priority  is  impUed,  it  is  not  directly  expressed.  'JijS  is  sometimes  used  to  denote  such 
priority  in  time,  c.  g..  Gen.  xxx.  30;  Ex.  x.  M;  Josh.  x.  14;  but  "JS-^i'  is  nowhere  clearly  used  in  this  sense,  so  that  it  ia 
more  natural  to  understand  it  (as  the  commentators  do)  here  to  mean  either  "  in  the  presence  of,"  or  "  during  the  life-time 
of."  The  next  passage.  Num.  iii.  4,  illustrates  the  meaning :  "  Eleazar  and  Ithamar  ministered  in  the  priest's  ofHce  in  the 
sight  of  (■  JS-b^')  Aaron  their  father."  It  is  hardly  possible  that  pains  would  be  taken  to  lay  stress  on  the  fact  that  Aaron 
»a!c  them  acting  the  part  of  priests,  especially  as  the  verb  ;n3  hardly  means  anything  more  than  "  to  be  priest."  Not  more 
admissibU-  is  the  interpretation  of  Gesenius  and  others,  who  here  translate  ' J3-S>_|  "  under  the  supervision  of."  There  is 
not  the  faintest  analogy  for  finch  a  meaning  of  the  phrase.  At  the  same  time.  It  is  hardly  supposable  that  it  can  be  lite- 
rally translated,  "  during  the  life-time  of."  The  notion  of  physical  presence,  or  nearness,  is  so  uniformly  involved  in  "  J3-7;; 
that  we  must,  in  strictness,  here  understand  it  to  mean,  "  over  against,"  "  in  view  of,"  the  point  of  the  expression,  however, 
not  consisting  in  the  circumstance  that  Aaron  watched  them  in  their  ministrations,  but  that  they  performed  them  over 
against  him,  i.  «.,  as  coupled  with  him,  together  with  him,  (and  so)  during  his  life-time.    Here  belongs  also  probably  Deut. 


8  will  not  bold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in  vain.     Kemember  the  sab- 

9  bath  clay,  to  keep  it  holy.      Six  days  shalt   thou   labor,  and  do  all  thy  work; 

10  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  [a  sabbath  unto]  Jehovah  thy  God :  in  it 
thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant, 

11  nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates:  For 
in  six  days  Jehovah  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and 
rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore  Jehovah  blessed  the  sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 

xxi.16,  "  He  may  not  make  the  eon  of  the  beloved  first-born  before  CiS'l^)  the  son  of  the  hated."  One  might  naturally 
understand  "  before  "  hero  to  mean,  "  in  preference  to ;''  and  this  certainly  would  yield  nn  arpropriale  sense— a  sense  c^-r- 
taiuly  involved,  yet  probably  not  directly  expressed.  At  least  there  is  no  clear  analogy  for  such  a  meaning,  unless  wo  find 
it  in  the  passages  now  under  consideration,  viz.,  Ex.  xx.  3  and  Deut.  v.  7.  The  best  commentators  understand  'iB'lj.'  '" 
Dent.  xxi.  16,  to  mean  "  during  the  life-time  of."  An  analogous  use  of  "jgS  is  found  in  Ps.  Ixxii  6,  where  it  is  said  of  the  king, 
" They  shall  fear  thee  as  long  as  the  snn  and  moon  endure,"  literally  "before  ('337)  the  sun  and  moon."  Similarly  ver. 
17.— The  other  of  the  fonr  passages  above  mentioned  is  Gen.  xxv.  18.  There  we  read :  "  He  (t.  «.,  Ishmael)  died  (literally,  fell) 
in  the  presence  of  (':3"S>')  his  brethren."  There  is  now,  however,  general  unanimity  in  translating  733  here  "settled" 
rather  than  "died,"  so  that  the  passage  is  to  be  reckoned  in  the  following  class,  in  which  also  the  relation  of  persons  to 
each  other  is  expressed,  but  in  a  somewhat  different  sense.— (12)  Knobcl  explains  'J3-7i^  in  Gen.  xxv.  IS  as  =  "to  the 
east  of."  So  Del.,  Lange,  Keil,  Maurer,  De  W.,  and  others.  But,  a»  we  have  already  seen,  •33"7i^does  not  have  this  meaning. 
This  passage  is  to  be  explained  by  the  parallel  one,  G  en.  xvi.  12,  where  it  is  also  said  of  Ishmael,  "He  shall  dwell  in  the  presence 
of  CiS'hy)  all  his  brethren."  Here  the  context  is,  "His  hand  will  be  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him  ;  and  he  shall  dwell  ''33-Sj7  all  his  brethren."  Ecil  and  Lange  are  unable  to  satisfy  themselves  with  the  interpreta- 
tion "  east  of"  here ;  and  it  is  clear  that  that  would  not  be  a  statement  at  all  in  place  here,  even  if  'ja'Sj?  ordinarily 
had  the  meaning  "east  of."  Evidently  the  angel  expresses  the  fact  that  the  Ishmaelites  were  to  dwell  orer  against  their 
brethren  as  an  independent,  defiant,  nation.  If  so,  then  xxv.  18  is  to  be  understood  in  the  same  w.ay,  as  a  statement  of  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  here  made.  In  addition  to  these  two  passages  there  are  three  others  in  which  the  relation  of 
ptrsons  to  each  other  is  expressed.  They  are  Lev.  x.  3,  Pa.  ix.  20  (19),  and  Jer.  vi.  7.  In  the  first  we  read  that  Jehovah 
said,  "  Before  (■33-'7J7'>  all  the  people  I  will  be  glorified ;"  this  is  preceded  by  the  statement,  "  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them 
thit  come  nigh  me."  The  verse  follows  the  account  of  the  destruction  of  Nadah  and  Abihu.  To  render  "  in  view  of,"  or 
"  in  the  presence  of,"  would  make  good  and  appropriate  sense;  ;uid  certainly  it  is  implied  that  by  the  summary  pnni-hnient 
ofthe  presumptuous  priests  Jehovah  intended  to  glorify  HimSflf  in  the  sight  of  His  people.  Yet.  while  men  are  freijuently 
represented  as  being  or  acting  before  ("JbS)  Jehovah,  it  is  extremely  unusual  to  speak  of  Jehovah  as  being  or  doing  anything 
before  (in  the  sight  of)  men.  And  since,  if  that  were  here  meant,  "334  would  probably  have  been  used,  it  is  much  better 
here  to  understand  the  meaning  to  be  "  over  against,"  implying  separation  and  contrast.  Likewise  Ps.  ix.  20  (19) :  "  Let 
the  heathen  be  judged  in  thy  sight  (Tp3~S^)."  Certainly  the  meaning  cannot  simply  be :  Let  the  heathen  be  judged, 
while  God  looks  on  as  a  spectator.  God  is  Himself  the  judge ;  and  the  heathen  are  to  be  judged  over  against  Him  ;  i.  e.,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  exhibit  the  contrast  between  them  and  Him.  There  remains  only  Jer.  vl.  7,  "  Before  me  f"33-7J')  con- 
tinually is  Brief  and  wounds."  The  context  describes  the  prospective  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Her  wickedness  is  described 
in  ver.  7:  "As  a  fount;iin  ca-^teth  out  her  waters,  so  she  casteth  out  her  wickedness;  violence  and  spoil  is  heard  in  her; 
bi-f  ire  me  continually  is  grief  and  wounds  (sickness  and  blows)."  Undoubtedly  this  implies  that  the  manifestations  of  the 
wickedness  of  the  people  were  in  Jehovah's  sight;  but  here,  too,  there  is  implied  the  notion  that  these  thines  are  over  against 
Ilim :  on  the  one  side,  Jehovah  in  His  holiness :  on  the  other,  Jernsalem  in  her  wickedness.  This  conception  is  naturally 
suggested  by  the  representation  that  Jehovah  is  about  to  make  war  upon  her. 

Having  now  given  a  complete  exhibition  of  the  use  of  'JS-bi'  in  all  the  other  passages,  we  are  prepared  to  consider 
what  it  means  in  the  first  commandment.  .Several  things  maybe  regarded  as  established;  (i)  'J3~7J?  is  far  from  being 
synonymous  with  "33  V  The  latter  is  used  hundreds  of  times  in  the  simple  sense  of  "  before  "  in  reference  to  persons  ;  the 
former  is  used  most  frequently  of  places,  and  in  all  cases  '7J^  has  more  or  less  of  its  ordinary  meaning,  "  upon,"  or  "  against  " 
(over  against),  (ii)  The  phrase  has  nowhere  unequivocally  the  meaning  "  besides."  The  nearest  approach  to  this  is  in  Jc^b 
xvi.  14,  under  (10),  where  'J3~7J'  may  be  rendered  "in  addition  to."  But  this  is  not  quite  the  same  as  "besides,"  and 
the  phrase  has  there  evidently  a  poetic  use.  A  solitary  case  like  this,  where  too  not  persons,  but  things,  are  spoken  of,  is 
altogether  iosuflicient  to  establish  the  hyjiothesis  that  '33~'"?  V  in  the  first  commandment  means  "  besides."  (iii)  The  most 
general  notion  conveyed  by  the  phrase  in  question  is  thatof  one  object  confronting  another.  Leaving  out  of  account,  as  of 
no  special  pertinency,  those  instances  in  which  it  verges  upon  the  literal  sense  of  "  upon  (or  against)  the  face  of,"  and  those 
in  which  the  meaning  of  ^J}  predominates,  (viz.,  classes  (3),  (6),  (7),  (8),  (10),  we  find  that  all  others  are  sufficiently  explained 
by  this  generic  notion  of  confronting.  Thus,  in  all  the  cases  where  places  are  spoken  of  as  '33~7J^  one  another,  class  (1)  ; 
where  objects  are  described  as  in  front  of  buildings,  class  (2) ;  and  where  persons  are  spoken  of  as  passing  in  front  of  others, 
class  (4).— So,  too,  in  the  cases  in  which  ''33"S,J'f3  is  used,  class  (5),  in  every  instance  it  follows  a  verb  which  implies  a  pre- 
Tious  state  of  hostility  ;  men  are  to  be  removed  from  being  orer  against  Jehovah,  from  confronting  Him  with  their  offensive 
deeds. — So  the  instance  in  Ps.  xviii.  43  (42),  class  (9) ;  the  dust  before  the  wind  is  compared  with  God's  enemies  destroyed 


CHAP.  XX.  1-21. 


12  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother:  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the  land  which 
13,  14  Jehovah  thy  God  giveth  thee.  Thou  shalt  not  kill.  Thou  shalt  not  commit 
15, 16  adultery.     Thou  shalt  not  steal.     Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy 

17  neighbor.     Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt   not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass, 

18  nor  anything  that  w  thy  neighbor's.     And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings,  and 
the  lightnings,  and  the  noise  of  the  trumpet,  and  the  mountain  smoking:  and  when 

19  the  people  saw  it,  they  removed  [reeled  backward],  and  stood  afar  off.     And  they 
said  unto  Moses,  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear:  but  let  not  God  speak  with 

20  us,  lest  we  die.     And  Moses  said  unto  the  people.  Fear  not;  for  God  is  come  to 
prove  you,  and  that  his  fear  may  be  before  your  faces  [upon  you],  that  ye  sin  not. 

21  And  the  people  stood  afar  off,  and  Moses  drew  near  unto  the  thick  darkness  where 
God  ivas. 

by  Him  ;  the  dust  confronting  the  wind  illuetratea  the  powerlessness  of  men  confronting  an  angry  God. — So  the  examples 
nn.ler  (12).  The  translation  "over  against  "  satisfies  all  of  the  cases.  A  ri-Iation  of  contrast  and  opposition  is  implied.— 
Likewise,  also,  the  three  paas-lges  under  ill).  The  son  of  the  beloved  wife  (Dent.  x.xi.  IG)  is  not  to  be  invested  with  the 
rights  of  primogeniture  over  against  the  son  of  the  bated  one.  /.  e..  in  cuntrast  w  itb,  distinction  from,  the  other  one,  while  yet  by 
natural  right  the  latter  is  entitled  to  the  privilege.  The  phrase 'J3-S;i|  may  here,  tliTfr"  '  - '-.  l"-.-;!  to  mean  "in 
preference  to."  or  "in  the  life-time  of,"  bnt  neither  one  nor  the  other  literally  and.^ii  ;  1  the  other  by 

implication.    In  Xum.  iii.  i  -Varon's  sons  are  represented  as  being  priests  over  agaimt  tK  ceeding  him, 

but  together  with  him,  as  two  hills,  instead  of  being  distant  from  one  another,  are,  as  it  i  n  fronting  each 

other.  So  in  Gen.  3ii.  28  Haran  is  said  to  have  died  over  against  his  Either.  In  his  death  be  cmfr^idt.l  h  s  ftither,  i. .".,  did 
not,  as  most  naturally  happens,  die  after  him,  when  his  father  would  have  been  taken  away  from  being  with  him.  By  thus 
anticipating  his  father  in  his  decease  he,  as  it  were,  passed  in  front  of  him,  confronted  him,  so  that  this  case  is  quite  analo- 
gous to  those  under  class  (4).  In  this  case,  therefore,  as  in  some  others,  the  meaning  of  ' J3-7>2  closely  borders  upon  that 
of  "33'?,  yet  is  not  the  same. 

The  application  of  this  discussion  to  Ex.  xx.  3  and  Dent.  t.  7  is  obvious.  Israel  is  to  have  no  other  gods  "over  against" 
Jehovah.  The  simple  meaning  "  before,"  i.«.,  in  the  presence  of,  would  have  little  point  and  force,  and  besides  would  have 
been  expressed  by  'JsS.  The  meaning  "besides"  would  have  been  expressed  by  n>'S3.  'j"lSlt,  or  some  other  of  the 
phrases  having  that  m.aoing.  The  meaning  "  over  against,"  the  usual  meaning  of  the  phrase,  is  perfectly  appropriate  here. 
All  filse  gods  are  opposed  to  the  true  God.  The  worship  of  them  is  incompatible  with  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  The  com- 
mand therefjre  is,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  to  confront  me,"  to  be  set  up  as  rival  objects  of  service  and  adoration. 
All  thnt  is  pertinent  in  the  other  two  renderings  is  involved  here.  Gods  that  are  set  up  over  against  Jehovah  may  be  said 
to  be  before  Him,  in  His  sight ;  that  they  are  gods  besides,  in  addition  to,  Him,  is  a  matter  of  course :  but,  more  than  this, 
they  are  gods  oppost-d  to  Him. — Ta,]. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Annh/.iia. — Tlie  whole  Mosaic  legislation  is 
typiful  ;inil  Messianic.  Typical,  as  is  evident 
from  the  existence  of  Deuteronomy,  inasmuch  as 
tliis  presents  the  first  instance  of  an  interpreta- 
tion which  gives  to  the  law  a  more  profound  and 
spiritual  meaning.  Messianic,  for  the  ten  com- 
mandments contain  a  description  of  Christ's  ac- 


This  first  legislation,  the  law  or  book  of  the 
covenant  in  the  narrower  sense,  is  evidently  the 
outline  of  the  whole  legislation.  The  presenta- 
tion of  the  piophetico-ethical  law  is  found  in 
the  ten  commandments  (xx.  1-17);  the  outline 
of  the  ceremonial  law  and  the  reasons  for  it  fol- 
low on  (vers.  18-26);  in  conclusion  comes  the 
third  part,  the  outline  of  the  social  laws  of  the 
Israelites  (xxi.-xxiii.). 

Three  questions  are   here  to  be  settled:    (1) 


ve  obedience,  whilst  the  saorificiivl  rites  contain  [  How  are  the  several  acts  of  legislation  related  to 
the  leading  features  of  His  passive  obedience.  '  the  history?     (2)  How  are  the  several  groups  of 
Everywhere  in  the   three   books   are   shadowed    laws  related  to  each  other?     (3)   How  is  there 
forth  the  three  offices  of  the  SFessiah.     Tl 
book  comprises,   together  with   the   prophetico- 


ical  covenant  law  of  the  ten  commandments, 
also  the  outlines  of  the  ceremoni:il  and  socinl 
(civil)  law,  because  those  two  subjects  of  legis- 
lation flow  as  consequences  out  of  the  ethical 
law.  The  priesthood  (or  the  church)  and  the 
stale  depend,  in  their  unity  as  well  as  in  their 
diversity,  on  the  ethico-religious  legislation  of 
the  life  of  the  God-man. 

The  first  form  of  elemental  ethico-religious, 
but  therefore  all-embracing  legislation,  com- 
prises the  law,  the  festivals,  and  the  house,  of  the 
covenant  (chaps,  xx.-xxxi. ).  It  is  different  from 
the  second  form  of  the  legislation  (chaps,  xxxii.- 
-x^xiv.  s(iq  )  on  account  of  the  breaking  of  the 


indicated  in  this  relation  a  gradual  development 
of  legislation? 

As  to  the  ten  commandments  in  particular,  we 
are  to  consider:  (1)  the  form  of  the  promulga- 
tion; (2)  the  relation  of  the  law  in  Exodus  to 
the  phase  it  presents  in  Deuteronomy;  (3)  ihe 
analysis  of  the  ten  commandments  themselves. 

That  the  laws  are  not  artificially  introduced 
into  the  history  of  Israel,  as  e.  g.  Bertheau  as- 
sumes, is  shown  by  their  definite  connection  with 
the  historical  occasions  of  them.  Thus,  e.  g.,  the 
law  of  the  ten  commandments  is  occasioned  by 
the  vow  of  covenant  obedience  made  beforehand 
by  the  people.  The  ceremonial  law  as  a  law  of 
atonement  is  occasioned  by  the  fright  and  flight 
of  the  people  at  the  thunders  of  Sinai  (chap.  xx. 
21).     Thus  the   holy  nation   is  established;   and 


not  till  DOW  is  tbere  occnsion  for  the  theocraticc 
social  legislation,  according  to  which  every  ind 
vidual  is  to  be  recognised  as  a  worthy  member  of 
this  nation.  The  setting  up  of  the  golden  calf  fur- 
nished historical  occasion  for  special  precepts. 
The  gradually  progressive  legislation  recorded 
in  the  Book  of  Numbers  most  markedly  illus 
trates  the  influence  of  historical  events.  W( 
have  before  become  acquainted  with  similar  in 
stances.  This  is  true  in  a  general  way  of  th( 
Passover  and  the  unleavened  bread.  The  com 
mands  concerning  the  sanctification  of  the  first- 
born and  concerning  the  reckoning  of  time  refer 
to  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  The  hallowing  of  the 
seventh  day  is  connected  with  the  gift  of  manna  ; 
the  bitter  water  occasions  the  fundamental  law 
of  hygienics,  ch.  xv.  The  attack  of  Amalek  is 
the  actual  foundation  of  the  ordinance  concern- 
ing holy  wars.  So  in  earlier  times  the  Noachian 
command  ((ten.  ix.)  was  a  law  which  looked  back 
to  the  godless  violence  of  the  perished  genera- 
tion; it  connected  the  command  to  reverence 
God  with  the  precept  to  hold  human  life  sacred. 
So  the  fundamental  command  of  the  covenant 
with  Abraham,  the  command  of  circumcision,  as 
a  symbol  of  generation  consecrated  with  refer- 
ence to  regeneration,  appears  after  the  history 
of  the  expulsion  of  Islimael,  who  was  born  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  (comp.  Gen.  xvii.  willi  Gen.  xvi.). 
But  that  the  book  of  Deuteronomy — according  to 
the  memorabilia  on  wliioh  it  is  founded — grew  out 
of  the  danger  that  Israel  might  belcd  by  tliegiving 
of  the  law  to  decline  into  observance  of  the  mere 
letter,  we  have  already  elsewhere  noticed.  It 
may  be  remarked  by  the  way  that  the  Song  of 
Moses  and  Moses'  Blessing  at  the  close  of  Deu- 
teronomy seem  like  the  heart's  blood  of  the  whole 
book,  a  song  of  cursing,  and  a  song  of  blessing ; 
in  the  Psalter  and  prophetic  books  scarcely  any- 
thing similar  can  be  found. 

How  are  the  individual  groups  of  laws  related 
to  one  another?  Tliat  they  essentially  and  un- 
conditionally require  one  another,  and  that  ac- 
cordingly they  could  not  have  appeared  sepa- 
rately, is  not  hard  to  show.  The  decalogue, 
taken  by  itself,  would  lead  into  scholastic  casu- 
istry ;  the  system  of  sacrifice,  taken  by  itself, 
into  magic  rites;  the  political  marshalling  of  the 
host,  into  despotism  or  greed  of  conquest.  Com- 
pare Schleiermacher's  argument  in  his  "Dogma- 
tik,"  to  show  that  the  three  offices  of  Christ  re- 
quire each  01  her. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  follows  also  that 
the  development  of  the  legislation  was  gradual. 
We  may  distinguish  four  stages  in  the  Mosaic 
period:  (1)  The  Passover  as  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  legislation,  and  the  several  special  laws 
up  to  the  arrival  at  Sinai  (primogeniture,  reck- 
oning of  time,  sanitary  regulation.  Sabbath) ;  (2) 
the  covenant  law,  or  book  of  the  covenant,  before 
the  covenant  was  broken  by  the  erecting  of  the 
golden  calf;  (3)  the  expansion  and  modification 
of  the  law,  on  account  of  the  breach  of  the  cove- 
nant, in  tlie  direction  of  the  hierarchy,  the  ritual, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  proclamation  of  grace 
in  the  name  of  ,)ehovah;  (4)  the  deeper  and  more 
inward  meaning  given  to  the  law  in  Deuteronomy, 
as  an  introductiou  to  the  ago  of  the  Psalms  and 
Prophets. 


The  Form  of  the  Promulgation  of  the  Decalogue. 
We  assume  that  this  form  is  indicated  in  xix. 
19.  The  passage,  Deut.  v.  4,  "Jehovah  talked 
with  you  face  to  face  in  the  mount,"  is  defined 
by  ver.  5,  "  I  stood  between  Jehovah  and  you  at 
that  time,  to  show  you  the  word  of  Jehovah."  In 
spite  of  this  declaration  and  the  mysterious  pas- 
sages. Acts  vii.  5.3,  Gal.  iii.  19,  Heb.  ii.  2,  the  no- 
tion has  arisen,  not  only  among  the  Jews,  but  also 
within  the  sphere  of  Christian  scholastic  theolo- 
gy, that  God  spoke  audibly  from  Mt.  .Sinai  to  the 
wholepeople.  Fid.Keil,II.  p.  lOBsqq.  Buxl. :"//<;- 
brseorum  interpreies adunum p<ene  omties:  deum verba 
decalogiper  se  immediate  locutum  esse,  dei  nempepo- 
Icntia,  non  aufem  angelorum  opera  ac  ministerio  voces 
in  acre  formatas  fuisse."  The  interpolation  of  spi- 
rits of  "nature  by  von  Hofmann  (vid.  Keil,  p.  108) 
must  be  as  far  from  the  reality  as  from  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  language.  It  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  Moses,  at  the  head  of  his  people  in  the 
breadless  and  waterless  desert,  moves,  as  it  were, 
on  the  border  region  of  this  world.  Asort  of  sym- 
bolical element  is  without  doubt  to  be  found  eveu 
in  the  Rabbinical  tradition,  that  God  spoke  from 
Sinai  in  a  Language  which  divided  itself  into  all 
the  languages  of  the  seventy  nations,  and  ex- 
tended audibly  over  all  the  earth  ; — evidently  a 
symbol  of  the  fact  that  the  language  of  the  ten 
commandments  gave  expression  to  the  language 
of  the  conscience  of  all  mankind. 

The  Relation  of  the  Law  in  Exodus  to  the  Form  of 
it  in  Deuteronomy. 

First  of  all  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  the  most 
literal  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  where  every- 
thing seems  to  depend  on  the  most  exact  phrase- 
ology, viz.,  in  the  statement  of  the  law,  there  is 
yet  not  a  perfect  agreement  between  the  two  state- 
ments; just  as  is  the  case  in  the  N.T.  with  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  in  church  history  with  the  ecumenical 
symbols,  which,  moreover,  have  failed  to  agree  on 
a  seven-fold  division  of  it.  Keil  rightly  makes  the 
text  in  Exodus  the  original  one  ;  whilst  Kurtz,  in 
a  manner  hazardous  for  his  standpoint,  inverts 
the  relation,  making  the  form  in  Deuteronomy 
the  original  one.  Both  of  tiiera  overlook  the 
fact  that  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  letter  the 
one  edition  is  as  original  as  the  other.  We  have 
already  (Genesis,  p.  92)  attempted  to  explain  the 
reason  of  the  discrepancies  wnich  Keil  in  note  1, 
II.,  p.  10.5,  has  cited.  In  the  repetition  of  the 
Sabbath  law  the  ethical  and  humane  bearing  of 
it  is  unmistakably  made  prominent  (Deut.  v. 
15),  as  in  relation  to  the  tenth  commandment  the 
wife  is  put  before  the  house.  In  the  form  of  the 
command  to  honor  father  and  mother,  the  bless- 
ing of  prosperity  is  made  more  emphatic.  The 
expressions  Xlt^  1)?  for  ^0,  n^,  n'Xriri  for  the 
repetition  of  iDHri  (in  the  second  part  of  the 
tenth  commandment)  savor  also  of  a  spiritual- 
izing tendency.  By  the  copula  1,  moreover,  the 
commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  and  the 
following  ones  are,  so  to  speak,  united  into  one 
commandment. 

Furthermore  is  to  be  noticed  the  difference 
between  the  first  oral  proclamation  of  the  law 
through  the  mediation  of  Moses  and  the  engraved 
inscription  of  it  on  t  wo  tablets.    This  begins  after 


the  solemn  ratification  of  llie  covenant,  sxiv.  15, 
xxxi.  18,  xxxii.  19,  xxxiv.  1.  Thus  at  tliis  point 
also  in  the  giving  of  the  law  the  oral  revelatioti 
precedes  the  written,  although  at  the  same  point 
the  revealed  word  and  the  written  word  blend 
intiiBately  together,  in  order  typically  to  ex- 
hibit the  intimate  relation  between  the  two 
throughout  the  Holy  Scriptures.  A  positive 
command  of  Holy  Scripture  has  already  been 
made,  xvii.  14:  eternal  war  against  Amalek,  in 
a  typical  sense.  The  fact  also  is  of  permanent 
significance,  that  Aaron  the  priest  was  making 
the  golden  calf  for  the  people  at  the  same  time 
tliat  Moses  on  the  mount  was  receiving  the  tables 
of  the  law.  That  the  ten  commandments  were 
written  on  the  two  tables,  that  therefore  the 
elhico-religious  law  of  the  covenant  is  divided 
into  ten  commandments,  is  affirmed  in  Ex.  xxxiv. 
28,  and  Ueut.  x.  4.  But  on  the  question,  how 
they  are  to  be  counted,  anrl  how  divided  between 
the  two  tables,  opinions  diifer.  Says  Keil:  "  The 
words  of  the  covenant,  or  the  ten  commandments, 
were  written  by  God  on  two  tables  of  stone  (xxxi. 
18),  and,  as  being  the  sum.  and  kernel  of  Ih"  law, 
are  called  as  early  as  in  sxiv.  12  ni.i"3n]  n^inn 
[the  law  and  the  commandment].  But  as  to  their 
number,  and  their  twofold  division,  the  Biblical 
text  furnishes  neither  positive  statements  nor 
certain  indications — a  clear  proof  that  these 
points  are  of  less  importance  than  dogmatic  zeal 
has  often  attached  to  them.  In  the  course  of  the 
centuries  two  leading  views  have  been  developed. 
Some  divide  the  commandments  into  two  divisions 
of  five  each,  and  assign  to  the  first  table  the  com- 
mandments respecting  (1)  other  gods,  (2)  images, 
(3)  the  name  of  God,  (4)  the  Sabbath,  and  (o) 
parents;  to  the  second  those  concerning  (1)  mur- 
der, (2)  adultery,  (3)  stealing,  (4|  false  witness, 
and  (5)  covetoiisness.  Others  assign  to  the  first 
table  three  commandments,  and  to  the  second, 
seven.  They  specify,  as  the  first  three,  the  com- 
mandments concerning  (1)  other  gods,  (2)  the 
name  of  God,  (3)  the  Sabbath;  which  three  com- 
prise the  duties  owed  to  God:  and,  as  the  seven 
of  the  second  table,  those  concerning  (1)  parents, 
(2)  murder,  (3)  adultery,  (4)  stealing,  (b)  false 
witness,  (G)  coveting  one's  neighbor's  house,  (7) 
coveting  a  neighbor's  wife,  servants,  cattle,  and 
other  possessions;  as  comprising  the  duties  owed 
to  one's  neighbor. — The  first  opinion,  with  the 
division  into  two  tables  of  five  commandments 
eich,  is  found  in  Josephus  (Ant.  TIL,  5,  8)  and 
Philo  (Quis  rer.  dwin.  hier.  §  3.5,  De  Decal.  §  12 
et  al.).  It  is  unanimously  approved  by  the 
church  fathe's  of  the  first  four  centuries,  and 
Las  been  retained  by  the  Oriental  and  Reform  I 
churches  to  this  day.  The  later  Jews  also  aci  ' 
with  this,  so  far  as  that  they  assume  only  ■ 
commandment  respecting  covetousncss,  but  dis- 
sent from  it  in  that  they  unite  the  prohibition  of 
im.ages  with  the  prohibition  of  strange  gods,  but 
regard  the  introductory  sentence,  "  I  am  Jeho- 
vah, thy  God,"  as  the  first  commandment.  This 
method  of  enumeration,  of  which  the  first  traces 
are  found  in  Julian,  the  Apostate,  quoted  by 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,  adv.  JuUanum,  Lib.  V.  init., 
and  in  a  casual  remark  of  Jerome  on  IIos.  s.  10, 
is  certainly  of  later  origin,  and  perhaps  pro- 
pounded only  from  opposition  to  the  Christians; 
but  it  still  prevails  among  the  modern  Jews. 


The  second  leading  view  was  brought  into  f  > 
vor  by  Augustine  an  1  before  hi  i  no  o  e  is 
known  to  have  advocated  it  In  Q  le  t  li  i 
Exod.,  Augustine  expresses  himeelt  o  i  tl  e  q  ip» 
tiou  how  the  ten  commandments  aie  to  b  di 
'i\'ieA:  (••Vtrwiquatuor  1  ntt    q         T I     <•   j  le 

Sabhalho,  guse  ad  tpsum  Dt  i 

reliqua  quorum  prtmum    H 

quse  ad  hommem  pertinent  et 

i'tta  septem    )  after  a  furth  the 

two  views,  as  follow  n 

gruentius  accipt  ill  i  T 

nitatem  videntur  til    i  t      ■>     i 

are  diligentma  tnlu  1    u  iims  to 

show,  further   thU  b\    ]  n  j  i    1  o  i  ol  iraiges 

the  prohib  t  on  of  other  go  Is  is  on)}  ex|-hined 
"perfectms  ivhile  the  piol  b  tion  of  covetous 
ness,  although  cor  c  p  tec;  t  a  i  z  s  al  e  -f  t  con 
cupiscenlia  domus  abcnse  tantum  in  peccando  dif- 
ferant,"  is  divided  by  the  repetition  of  the  "non 
concupisccs"  into  two  commandments.  In  this 
division  Augustine,  following  the  text  of  Deuter- 
onomy, generally  reckoned  the  conimnnd  not  to 
covet  one's  neighbors  wife  as  the  ninth,  though 
in  individual  passages,  following  the  text  of  Ex- 
odus, he  puts  the  one  concerning  the  neighbor's 
house  first  (vid.  Geffken,  i'eher  die  versctiiedene 
Eintheilung  des  Dekalogs,  Hamburg,  1838,  p.  174). 
Through  Augustine's  great  influence  this  divi- 
sion of  the  commandments  became  the  prevalent 
one  in  the  Western  church,  and  was  also  adopted 
by  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  church,  with  the 
difference,  however,  that  the  Catholic  and  Lu- 
theran churches,  following  Exodus,  made  the 
ninth  commandment  refer  to  the  house,  while  only 
a  few,  with  Augustine,  gave  the  prelerence  to  the 
order  as  found  in  Deuteronomy.* 

We  have  the  more  readily  borrowed  the  lan- 
guage of  a  decided  Lutheran  on  this  question,  in- 
asmuch as  he,  in  distinction  from  some  others 
who  seem  to  regard  adherence  to  (he  mediteval 
division  as  essential  to  Lutheran  orthodoxy,  dis- 
plays a  commendable  impartiality.  The  leading 
reasons  for  the  ancient,  Iheocrat-c  division  are 
the  following:  (1)  The  transposition  of  the  first 
object  of  covetousness  in  Exodus  and  Deuterono- 
my, "thy  neighbor's  bouse,"  "thy  neighbor's 
wife."  The  advocates  of  the  ecclesiastical  view 
would  here  rather  assume  a  corruption  of  the 


and  Gueru  1 
Dciit.  V.  6  B. 
p.  298  etiq. ; 
Riibl.iniral 


text,  even  in  the  tnbles  of  the  law,  than  see  in 
this  transposition  a  weaving  of  the  two  precepts 
into  one  commandment.  (2)  The  diSFerence,  am- 
ply established  by  sacred  history,  as  well  as  by 
the  history  of  religion  in  general,  between  the 
worship  of  symbolic  images,  and  the  worship  of 
mythological  deiiies:  in  accordance  with  which 
distinction  the  two  prohibitions  are  not  to  be 
blended  into  one  commandment.  (3)  Of  very 
special  importance  is  the  brief  explanation  of  the 
law  given  by  Paul  in  Rom.  vii.  7  with  the  words, 
"Thou  shalt  not  covet."  According  to  this  ex- 
planation, the  emphasis  rests  on  the  prohibition 
of  covetousness,  and  the  expansion  "thy  neigh- 
bor's house,"  etc.,  serves  merely  to  exemplify  it. 
But  when  the  commandment  is  divided  into  two, 
the  chief  force  of  the  prohibition  rests  on  the 
several  objects  of  desire,  so  that  these  two  last 
commandments  would  lead  one  to  make  the  law 
consist  in  the  vague  prohibition  of  external 
things,  and  need  to  be  supplemented  by  a  great 
''etc.;"  whereas  the  emphasizing  of  covetousness 
as  an  important  point  leads  one  to  refer  the  law  to 
the  inward  life,  and,  so  understood,  looks  back 
to  the  spiritual  foundation  of  the  whole  law  in 
the  first  commandment,  whilst  a  kindred  element 
of  spirituality  is  found  in  the  middle  of  the  law, 
connected  with  the  precept  to  honor  father  and 
mother. — As  to  the  distribution  of  the  law  into 
two  ideal  tables,  the  division  into  two  groups  of 
five  commandments  each  is  favored  especially  by 
the  fact  that  all  the  commandments  of  the  second 
table  from  the  sixth  commandment  on  are  con- 
nected by  the  conjunction  1  ["and;"  in  the  A.  V. 
rendered,  together  with  the  negative,  "neither"] 
in  Deuteronomy  (ver.  17,  etc.).  Moreover,  in  fa- 
vor of  the  same  division  is  the  consideration  that 
parents  in  the  fifth  commandment  stand  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Deity  and  of  the  divine  rule.  As 
the  first  commandment  expresses  the  law  of  true 
religion,  and  the  second,  the  requirement  to  make 
one's  religious  conceptions  spiritual  and  to  keep 
them  pure;  so  the  three  following  commandments 
evidently  designate  ramifications  of  religious  con- 
duct: the  duty  of  maintaining  the  sanctity  of  reli- 
gious knowledge  and  doctrine;  of  religious  hu- 
manity (or  of  worship),  and  of  the  most  original 
nursery  of  religion,  the  household,  and  of  its  most 
original  form,  piety.  Nevertheless,  when  one 
would  divide  the  ten  commandments  between  the 
two  actual  tables  of  Moses,  he  fails  to  lind  dis- 
tinct indications;  hardly,  however,  can  the  as- 
sumption be  established  that  only  the  precepts 
themselves  stood  on  the  tables,  but  not  the  rea- 
sons that  are  given  for  some  of  them. 

As  to  the  whole  system  of  the  Mosaic  legisla- 
tion, we  are  to  consider  the  arrangement  which 
Bertheau  has  made  in  his  work  "Die  sieben  Grup- 
pen  mosaischer  Geselze  in  den  drei  mittleren  Biichern 
del Fentateuchs"  (Gotlingen,  1840).  Accordingto 
him,  the  number  7,  multiplied  by  10,  taken  seven 
times,  lies  at  the  foundation  of  tlie  arrangement. 
We  have  already  observed  that  we  do  not  regard 
as  well  grounded  the  dissolution  of  the  Mosaic 
code  of  laws  from  history  as  its  basis.  Moreover, 
a  clear  carrying  out  of  the  system  would  show 
that  we  could  regard  the  origin  of  it  only  as  in- 
stinetive,  not  as  the  conscious  work  of  Kabbinio 
design.  The  ten  commandments,  Ex.  xx.  1-17, 
form  the  introduction  of  this  urraDgemeut.     But 


the  ritual  law  follows  immediately,  beginning 
with  a  group,  not  of  ten,  but  of  four  laws,  xx. 
23  sqq. 

1.  The  Lawgiver.  That  Jehovah  is  the  lawgiver 
does  not  exclude  the  mediation  mentioned  Gal. 
iii.  19  and  elsewhere.  Comp.  Comm.  on  Genesis, 
vi.  1-8.  Quite  as  little,  however,  does  this  me- 
diation obscure  the  name  of  the  lawgiver,  Jeho- 
vah. Keil  {II.  p.  114)  inconclusively  opposes 
the  view  of  Knobel,  who  takes  the  first  words, 
"I  am  Jehovah,"  as  a  confession,  or  as  the  foun- 
dfition  of  the  whole  theocratic  law.  Just  because 
the  words  have  this  force,  are  they  also  the  foun- 
dation of  the  obligation  of  the  people  to  keep  the 
theocratic  commandments.  For  the  lawgiver 
puts  the  people  under  the  highest  obligation  by 
their  recognising  him  as  benefactor  and  libera- 
tor. An  absolute  despot  as  such  is  no  lawgiver. 
Israel's  law  is  based  on  his  typical  liberation, 
and  his  obedience  to  the  law  on  faith  in  that 
liberation.  The  law  itself  is  the  objective  form 
in  which  for  educational  purposes  the  obligations 
are  expressed,  which  are  involved  in  its  founda- 
tion. 

2.  The  first  Commandment.  The  absolute  nega- 
tion N7  stands  significantly  at  the  beginning. 
So  further  on.     Antithetic  to  it  is  i' 


'3JX  ["I"]  of  Jehovah  at  (he  opening  of  Hig 
commandments. — O'ip '5^.  'i^'J}],  the  gods  become, 
spring  up  gradually  in  the  conceptions  of  the  sin- 
ful people,  hence  '"[T  '^""'.O?  i°  connection  with 
D'il/X  is  to  be  explained  as  =  erepoi  (according 
to  Gai.  i.  6)  with  the  LXX.  and  the  Vulgate 
(aZi'cn!,  foreign),  not  =  aZ(7,  other.  'JS'bi'  may 
mean  before  my  face,  ot^er  against  my  face,  against 
my  face,  besides  njy  face,  beyond  it.  The  central 
feature  of  the  thought  may  be:  beyond  my  per- 
sonal, revealed  form,  and  in  opposition  to  it — re- 
cognizing, together  with  the  error  a  remnant  of 
religiosity  in  the  worship  of  the  gods. — Tlie  "co- 
ram me"  of  the  Vulgate  expresses  ore  factor  of 
the  notion,  as  Luther's  "  neben  mir"  ["by  my 
side"]  does  another.  \_Vid. under  "Textual  and 
Grammatical"]. 

3.  The  Prohibition  of  Image  TTorship,  vers.  4-C. 
Image,  vD3,  from  7C3,  to  hew  wood  or  stone. 
It  therefore  denotes  primarily  a  plastic  image, 
njiori  does  not  signify  an  image  made  by  man, 
but  only  a  form  which  appears  to  him.  Num. 
xii.  8,  Deut.  iv.  12,  15  sqq..  Job  iv.  1(5,  Psalm 
xvii.  15.  In  Deut.  v.  8  (comp.  iv.  U)  we  find 
n3TOri~73  7p3,  "image  of  any  form."  Accord- 
ingly n3Wn"731  is  here  to  be  taken  as  explana- 
tory of  7p3,  and  i  as  explicative,  "even  any 
form"  (Keil).  "Image"  is  therefore  used  ab- 
solutely in  the  sense  of  religious  represenla- 
tion  of  the  Deity,  and  the  various  forms  are  con- 
ceived as  the  forms  of  the  image.  Comp.  Deut. 
iv.  1-5,  ''for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  [no 
form]  on  the  day  that  Jehovah  spake  unto  you 
in  lloreb."  The  medium  of  legislation  therefore 
continued  to  be  a  miracle  of  hearing ;  it  became 
a  miracle  of  sight  only  in  the  accompanying 
given  for  the  purpose  of  perpetually 


CnAP.  XX    1-21. 


preventing  every  kind  of  imnge-worsUip. — In 
heaven.  Keilsays:  "  on  the  heaven,"  explain- 
ing it  as  referring  to  the  binls,  and  not  the  an- 
gels, at  the  most,  according  to  Deut.  iv.  I'J,  as 
perhaps  innhiding  the  stars.  The  angels  proper 
could  not  possibly  have  been  meant  as  copies  of 
Jehovah,  since  they  themselves  appear  only  in 
visions  ;  and  even  if  the  constellations  were  spe- 
cially meant,  yet  they  too  were  for  the  most  part 
pictorially  represented  [and  in  this  sense  only  is 
the  worship  of  them  here  prohibited].  The  wor- 
ship of  stars  as  such  is  covered  by  the  first  com- 
mandment. Comp.  Rom.  i. — Under  the  earth. 
Beneath,  under  the  level  of  the  solid  land,  lower 
than  it.  Marine  creatures  are  therefore  meant. 
This  commaudment  deals  throughout  only  with 
religious  conduct.  The  bowing  down  designates 
the  act  of  adoration;  the  scrumy  denotes  the  sys- 
tem of  worship.  Keil  quotes  from  Calvin:  "gutd 
stulte  quidamputarunt,  hie  damnari  sculpturas  et  pic- 
turas  qu'iflihet.  re/utatiotie  non  indiget."  Still  it  is 
clear  from  Kom.  i.  that  the  gradual  transition  from 
the  over-estimate  of  the  symbolical  image  to  the 
superstitious  reverence  for  it  is  included. 

According  to  Keil  the  threat  and  promise  fol- 
lowing the  second  commandment  refer  to  the  two 
first  as  being  embraced  in  a  higher  unity.  But 
this  higher  unity  is  resolvable  in  this  way,  that  the 
sin  against  tlie  second  commandment  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  source  of  the  sin  against  the  first. 
With  image  worship,  or  the  deification  of  sym- 
bols, idolatry  begins.  Hence  image  wor.ship  is 
condemned  as  being  the  germ  of  the  whole  suc- 
ceeding developpjeut  of  sin.  That  which  in  the 
classical  writings  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  is 
signified  by  {'Jmr,  the  fatal  beginning  of  a  con- 
nected series  of  crimes  which  come  to  a  conclusion 
only  in  one  or  more  tragic  catastrophes,  is  sig- 
nified in  the  theocratic  sphere  by  ^j},  perversion, 
pervcrsfnens.  The  evil-doing  of  the  fathers  has 
a  genealogical  succession  which  cannot  bo  broken 
till  the  third  or  fourth  generations  (grandchil- 
dren and  great-grandchildren)  are  visited.  This 
is  shown  also  by  the  Greek  tragedy,  and  the  third 
and  fourth  generation  is  still  to  be  traced  in  the 
five  acts  of  the  modern  tragedy.  Now  the  image- 
worshipper  is  worse  than  the  idolater  in  tliat  he 
makes  this  fatal  beginning.  But  as  the  t;;3/«c 
proceeds  from  an  insolence  towards  the  guds 
which  may  bo  called  hatred,  so  also  image-wor- 
ship arises  out  of  an  insolent  apostasy  from  the 
active  control  of  the  pure  conception  of  God, 
from  the  control  of  the  Spirit.  la  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, it  is  the  golden  calves  of  Jeroboam  at 
Dan  and  Beersheba  which  are  followed  by  such 
catastrophes  in  Israel.  It  may  also  be  asked: 
What  has  the  mediaeval  image-worship  cost  cer- 
tain European  nations  in  particular  ?  That  the 
hereditary  guilt  thus  contracted  forms  no  abso- 
lute fatality,  is  shown  by  the  addition,  ''  of  them 
that  hate  me."  This  is  a  condition,  or  limita- 
tion, which  is  echoed  in  the  cO'  (,>  Trdi'rrc  fjiiaprov 
of  Kom.  V.  12.  But  the  comlition  cannot  be  made 
the  foundation,  as  is  doue  by  Keil,  who  says  that 
by  the  words  'NJty^  and  '?n.s'7  ["  of  them  that 
hate  me"  and  "of  them  ttiat  love  me"]  the 
punishment  and  the  grace  are  traced  back  to 
their  ultimate  ground.  This  would  vitiate  the 
force  of  what  h6  afterwards  says  of  the  organic 
9 


relations  of  humanity.  The  organic  hereditary 
conditions  of  guilt,  of  which  even  the  heathen 
know  how  to  speak  (vid.  Keil,  p.  117),  are  lim- 
ited by  morally  guilty  actions.  Because  refer- 
ence is  here  made  to  organic  consequences,  the 
fathers  themselves  are  not  mentioned.  Because 
the  transmission  of  the  curse  is  hindered  by  the 
counter  influence  of  ethical  forces  and  natures, 
checks  grow  up  as  early  as  between  the  third 
and  fourth  generations.  The  sovereignty  of 
grace  is  concerned  in  this,  as  also  in  the  oppo- 
site parallel,  "unto  the  thousands,"  {.  e.,  unto 
a  thousand  generations.  This  wonderfully  sub- 
tle and  profound  doctrine  of  original  sin  is  not 
Augustinian,  inasmuch  as  it  assumes  special  cases 
of  siu  and  individual  and  generic  counteracting 
influences  within  the  sphere  of  the  general  con- 
dition of  sin.  It  is,  however,  still  less  Pelagian ; 
yet,  as  compared  with  the  notion  of  guilt  embo- 
died in  the  Greek  tragedians,  it  is  exceedingly 
mild.  The  hereditary  descendants  of  such  a 
gnilty  parentage  fill  up  the  measure  of  the  guilt 
of  their  fathers.  Malt,  xxiii.  32.  In  this  passage 
also  the  notion  of  guilt,  as  distinguished  from 
that  of  sin,  is  brought  out.  Guilt  is  the  organic 
side  of  sin  ;  siu  is  the  ethical  side  of  guilt.  The 
whole  judicial  economy,  moreover,  is  founded  on 
the  jealousy  of  Goil ;  i.  e.,  as  being  the  absolute 
personality,  He  insists  that  persons  Bhull  not  dis- 
solve the  bond  of  personal  communion  with  Him, 
that  they  shall  not  descend  from  the  sphere  of 
love  into  that  of  sensuous  conceptions. 

4.  The  third  commandment.  The  sin  against  the 
first  commandment  banishes  the  name  of  Jeho- 
vah by  means  of  idol  names;  the  sin  against  the 
second  obscures  and  di.sfigures  it;  the  sin  against 
this  third  one  abuses  it.  Here  then  the  name, 
the  right  apprehension,  or  at  least  knowledge 
and  confession,  of  the  name,  are  presupposed  ; 
but  the  correctness  of  the  apprehension  is  hypo- 
critically employed  by  the  transgressor  of  this 
commandment  in  the  interest  of  selfishness  and 
vice.  According  to  Keil  D'd  Ni'J  does  not  meau 
"to  utter  the  name,"  and  XIl'  does  not  meau 
"  lie."  But  to  lift  up  a  name  must  surely  mean 
to  lift  it  up  by  uttering  it,  though  doubtless  in  a 
solemn  way;  and  though  NIC  signifies  wasteness 
and  emptiness,  yet  it  is  here  to  be  understood  of 
wasteness  and  emptiness  in  speech.  The  moral 
culmination  of  this  sin  is  perjury.  Lev.  xix.  12; 
hypocrisy  in  the  application  of  sacred  things  to 
criminal  uses,  especially  also  sorcery  in  all  forms. 
— Hero  the  punitive  retribution  is  put  imme- 
diately upon  the  person  who  sins,  as  an  una- 
voidable one  which  surely  finds  its  object,  and 
whose  law  rests  on  the  nature  of  Jehovah  Himself. 

5.  Vers.  0-11.  Here  is  to  be  considered:  (1) 
The  signijicanee  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath;  (2)  llie 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  ;  (3)  the  ordinance  of  the 
Sabbath;  (4)  t/,e  reason  for  tice  Sabbath.  The  idea 
of  the  Sabbath  will  never  he  rightly  apprehended, 
unless  it  is  seen  to  be  a  union  of  two  laws.  The 
first  is  the  ethical  law  of  humanity,  which  here 
predominates;  the  second  is  the  strictly  religious 
law,  which  is  made  prominent  in  l^ev.  xxiii. 
The  law  of  the  Sabbath  would  not  stand  in  the 
decalogue,  if  it  did  not  have  a  moral  principle  to 
establish  as  much  as  the  commandments  not  to 
kill,   commit  adultery,  or  steal.     The   physical 


so 


nature  shall  no*  be  worn  out,  dishonored,  and 
slowly  murdered  by  restless  occupation.  Hence 
the  specification:  "No  kind  of  work  or  busi- 
ness :"  and  that,  not  only  in  reference  to  son 
and  daughter,  man-servant  and  maid-servant, 
but  also  in  reference  to  the  beasts  themselves 
and  the  stranger  within  the  gates  of  Israel  ((.  c, 
in  their  cities  and  villages,  not  in  the  houses  of 
the  stranger),  as  the  foreigner  might  imagine 
that  he  could  publicly  emancipate  himself  from 
this  sacred  humane  ordinance.  This  point  is 
brought  out  in  Deut.  v.  14,  15;  Ex.  xxiii.  12. 
It  is  seen  further  on,  in  the  sabbatical  year  and 
in  the  great  year  of  jubilee.  Reference  is  made 
to  it  in  Deut.  xvi.  11. — That  there  existed  already 
a  tradition  of  the  Sabbath  rest,  may  be  inferred 
from  the  tradition  of  the  days  of  creation;  so 
also  circumcision  as  a  custom  prevailed  before 
the  institution  of  it  as  a  sacrament.  But  that 
circumcision,  as  a  patriarchal  law,  symbolically 
comprehending  all  the  ten  commandments,  con- 
tinued to  outrank  the  Mosaic  law  of  the  Sabbath, 
which  was  not  till  now  raised  to  the  rank  of  one 
of  the  chief  ethical  commandments,  is  shown  by 
the  Jewish  custom  as  indicated  in  Christ's  decla- 
ration, John  vii.  '2.i,  2?>. — The  ordinance  of  the 
Sabbath  first  specifies  the  subjects  of  the  com- 
mand :  "  Those  who  are  to  rest  are  divided  into 
two  classes  by  the  omission  of  the  conjunction  1 
before  '1^3^"  (Keil).  Next,  the  degree  of  rest: 
"n3N7D,  business  (comp.  Gen.  ii.  2),  in  distinc- 
tion from  m^i',  labor,  means  not  so  much  the 
lighter  work  (Schultz)  as  rather,  in  general,  the 
accomplishment  of  any  task,  whether  hard  or 
easy;  rnhj?  is  the  execution  of  a  particular  work, 
whether  agricultural  (Ps.  civ.  23),  or  mechani- 
cal (Ex.  xxxix.  ;-!2),  or  sacerdotal,  including  both 
the  priestly  service  and  the  labor  necessary  for 
the  performance  of  the  ritual  (Ex.  xii.  25  sq.. 
Num.  iv.  47).  On  the  Sabbath,  as  also  on  the 
day  of  atonement  (Lev.  xxiii.  28,  31)  every  em- 
ployment was  to  cease  ;  on  the  other  feast-days, 
only  laborious  occupations,  m2^  '"'?.'^/.?  {l-ey. 
xxiii.  7  sqq), '.  f-,  occupations  which  come  under 
the  head  of  toilsome  labor,  civil  business,  and 
the  prosecution  of  one's  trade"  (Keil). — The 
reason:  "for  in  six  days,"  elc.  "This  implies 
that  God  blessed  and  hallowed  the  seventh  day 
because  He  rested  on  it"  (Keil).  According  to 
Schullz  man  should,  in  a  degree,  make  the  pul- 
sations of  the  divine  life  his  own.  So  much  is 
certainly  true,  that  the  rhythmical  antithesis 
between  labor  and  rest  in  the  divine  creation 
Bhould  be  not  only  the  prototype,  but  also  the 
rule  for  human  activity.  All  the  more,  inas- 
much as  not  only  human  nature,  but  nature  in 
general,  needs  intervals  of  rest  to  keep  it  from 
being  consumed  with  disquietude.  Hence  the 
commandment  contains  an  ethical  principle,  a 
law  designed  to  secure  vigor  of  life,  as  the  sixth 
commandment  protects  life  itself,  xxiii.  12,  Deut. 
V.  14  sq.  Furthermore  is  to  be  considered  that 
the  sevcnih  day  of  God  has  a  beginning,  but 
no  end;  accordingly  man's  day  of  rest  should 
have  its  issue,  not  in  time,  but  in  eternity  {riJ. 
Hcb.  iv.  10,  Kcv.  xiv.  13).     Keil  would  here  make 


a  distinction  between  the  labor  of  Paradise  and 
labor  after  the  fall;  but  the  typical  days  of  cre- 
ation preceded  the  fall.  The  positive  side  of  the 
day  of  rest,  the  solemn  celebration,  first  appears 
in  "the  form  of  the  ritual  law  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  ritual  makes  the  day  of  rest  a  festival.  And, 
inasmuch  as  the  festival  is  the  soul  of  the  day 
of  rest,  a  day  in  which  man  should  rest,  and  keep 
holy  day  in  God,  as  on  that  day  God  rests  and 
keeps  holy  day  in  man,  it  could  also  be  trans- 
formed from  the  Jewish  Sabbath  into  the  Chris- 
tian Sunday. 

6.  Ver.  12.  TVie  fifth  commandment.  This  con- 
cludes the  first  table,  and  forms  at  the  same  time 
a  transition  to  the  second.  "In  the  requisition 
of  honor  to  parents  it  lays  the  foundation  for  the 
sanctification  of  all  social  life,  in  that  it  teaches 
us  to  recognise  a  divine  authority  in  it "  (Oehler, 
in  HcTzog'  a  Real-  Encyclopadie,  under  "Dehnlog"), 
In  the  parental  house  the  distinction  betweeQ 
the  dynamical  majority  that  is  to  train  and  go- 
vern, and  the  numerical  majority  which  is  to  be 
subject  to  the  other,  becomes  conspicuous:  one 
pair  of  parents,  and  perhaps  two,  three,  or  four 
times  as  many  children.  Here  the  government 
of  an  absolute  majority  would  be  an  absolute  ab- 
surdity. On  the  fifth  commandment  vid.  Keil, 
p.  122. 

7.  The  sixth  commandment.  The  protection  of 
life  in  its  existence.  It  is  at  the  same  time 
the  basis  of  all  the  following  commandments. 
Lev.  xix.  18,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  Hence  killing,  when  permitted  or 
even  commanded,  is  to  be  regOjfded  as  in  prin- 
ciple a  consequence  of  the  duty  of  the  preserva- 
tion of  life  in  the  higher  sense.  So  the  seventh 
commandment  serves  to  protect  marriage  as  the 
source  of  life  and  the  means  of  keeping  it  pure ; 
the  eighth  commandment,  to  protect  property  and 
equity,  as  the  condition  of  the  dignity  of  life;  the 
ninth  commandment,  to  protect  truth  and  the  ju- 
diciary against  falsehood  and  slander,  as  being 
the  spiritual  vitiation  of  life;  the  tenth  com- 
mandment, to  guard  the  issues  of  life  from  within 
outwards.  The  progress  from  violence  to  seduc- 
tion, and  thence  on  to  fraud,  prepares  the  way 
for  the  transition  to  the  chief  sin  of  the  tongue 
and  the  chief  sin  of  the  thought,  primarily  as 
related  to  one's  neighbor.  On  this  "mirum  et 
aptum  ordinem,"  as  Luther  calls  it,  see  Keil  II., 
p.  123.  Thus  the  circle  is  formed;  the  law  re- 
turns to  the  beginning:  only  by  the  sanctifica- 
tion of  the  heart  according  to  the  tenth  com- 
mandment can  the  worship  of  God  according  to 
the  first  commandment  be  secured.— Not  kill. 
Every  thing  belonging  here  is  taught  in  the  cate- 
chism; vid.  also  Keil,  p.  123  (comp.  Geu.  ix.  6). 
In  the  exposition,  suicide,  the  killing  of  beasts, 
etc.,  are  to  be  considered.  By  the  omission  of 
the  object  the  emphasis  lying  on  the  notion  of 
killing  is  strengthened.  In  so  far  as  the  beast 
has  no  complete  life,  it  cannot  he  killed  in  the 
same  sense  as  a  man  can  be.  But  every  form  of 
cruelty  to  beasts  is  an  offence  against  the  image 
of  human  life. 

8.  Not  commit  adultery.  This  command- 
ment holds  the  same  relation  to  the  sixth  as  the 
second  to  the  first.  Idolatry  proper  corresponds 
with  the  murder  of  one's  neighbor,  the  latter 
being  an  offence  against  the  divine  in  man.     Im- 


CHAP.  XX.  22 


SI 


age-worship,  however,  corresponds  with  adul- 
tery, as  this  too  rests  on  a  subtle  deification  of 
the  image  of  man;  it  is  spiritual  idolatry,  as 
image-worship  is  spiritual  adultery,  Lev.  xx.  10. 
Here  observe  also  the  expansion  of  the  thought 
in  the  catechism,  according  to  which  simple 
whoredom  too  iu  all  its  forms,  as  well  as  unchas- 
tity,  is  included. 

9.  Not  steal.  Vid.  the  expansion,  ch.  xxi. 
33,  xxii.  13,  xxiii.  4,  5,  Deut.  xxii.  1-4.  The 
correspondence  between  this  commandment  and 
the  misuse  of  the  name  of  God,  which  robs  God 
of  His  honor,  is  also  not  to  be  overlooked.  In 
thec'ise  of  false  oaths  in  business  the  two  offences 

10.  Bear  false  witness  against  thy  neigh- 
bor. '\pp  H;,  Deut.  Sli^  IJi',  an  intensification 
of  the  expression.  "Not  only  every  lying,  but 
in  general  every  untrue  and  unfounded,  testi- 
mony is  forbidden;  also  not  only  testimony  be- 
fore the  judge,  but  in  general  every  untrue  tes- 
timony" (Keil).  Aside  from  the  fact  that  the 
judicial  oaths  in  court  form  a  sort  of  religious 
ceremony,  which  reminds  one  of  the  law  of  the 

Sabbath,  it  is  also  the  office  of  the  S.ibbath  to 
suppress  the  false  excitements  of  the  week  of  la- 
bor, out  of  which  sins  of  the  tongue,  especially 
also  false  testimony,  proceed. 

11.  Thou  shalt  not  covet.  The  emphasis 
lies  on  coveting,  not  on  the  several  objects  of  co- 
veting. This  emphasis  of  the  inward  state  is 
made  secure  by  reckoning  the  commandment  as 
one.  "The  repetition  of  nbnn  K^  ['thou  shalt 
not  covet']  no  more  proves  that  the  words  form 
two  distinct  commandments  than  the  substitution 
of  n^xrin  ['desire']  fornbnn  ['covet']  in  Dent. 
7.18(21')"  (Keil).  TherepetitioninExodusgives 
prominence  to  the  thought  that  the  house,  the  sum 
total  of  domestic  life,  as  a  unit,  is  superior  to  the 
individual;  in  Deut.,  that  the  wife,  ideally  con- 
sidered, is  superior  to  the  house  (Prov.  xii.  4, 
xxxi.  10).  Vid.  Keil's  note  in  reply  to  Kurtz, 
who  regards  the  text  in  Exodus  as  corrupt.*  The 


«  [The  1 


Hfl.l 


relation  between  the  fifth  and  the  tenth  com- 
mandment is  less  marked,  yet  it  may  be  said  :  a 
genuine  pupil  of  a  pious  house  will  not  covet  his 
neighbor's  house.  The  house  of  God  in  (he  pious 
family  keeps  peace  with  the  house  of  the  neigh- 
bor. Every  house  is  to  the  pious  man  a  house 
consecrated  by  justice,  like  a  house  of  God. 
The  Effect. 
Vers.  18-21 ;  Deut.  v.  lio-oS.  According  to 
Kcil,  the  frightful  phenomena  under  wliicli  the 
Lord  manifested  His  majesty  made  the  designed 
impression  on  the  people.  It  was  indeed  de- 
signed that  the  people  should  be  penetr.atcd  with 
the  fear  of  God,  in  order  that  they  might  not  sin  ; 
but  not  that  in  their  fear  they  should  stand  olf 
and  beg  Moses  as  their  mediator  to  talk  with 
God.  Hence  it  is  said,  "God  is  come  to  try 
you."  A  trial  is  always  a  test,  which,  through 
the  influence  of  false  notions,  may  occasion  a 
twofold  view  of  it.  That  the  Jews  as  sinners 
should  be  startled  by  the  phenomena  of  the  ma- 
jesty of  God,  was  the  intent  of  this  revelation;  but 
that  they  should  retire  trembling  and  desire  a 
mediator,  was  a  misunderstanding  occasioned  by 
their  carnal  fear  and  spiritual  sluggishness. 
Here,  therefore,  is  the  key  to  the  understanding 
of  the  hierarchy.  The  lay  feeling  of  the  people 
desired  a  meilaiKng  priesthood,  which  the  person 
of  Moses  first  had  to  represent.  For  the  priest 
is  the  man  who  can  dare  to  approach  God  with- 
out being  overwhelmed  with  the  fear  of  death 
{.Jer.  XXX.  21).  The  people  now,  although  they 
have  found  out  by  experience  that  men  can  hear 
God  speak  without  dying,  yet  yield  to  the  fear 
that  they  will  be  destroyed  by  fire  when  in  im- 
mediate intercourse  with  God  (Deut.  v.  24,  25). 
.\nd  because  this  is  now  their  attitude  of  soul, 
.Jehovah  complies  with  it  (Deut.  v.  28),  just  as 
He  afterwards  gave  to  the  people  a  king.  This 
origin  of  the  Old  Testament  hierarchy  explains 
why  immediately  afterwards  mention  is  made  of 
altars.  In  consequence  of  that  arrangement, 
therefore,  the  people  now  stood  henceforth  afar 
olf:  Moses  had  for  the  present  assumed  the 
whole  mediatorship. 


e  coDJoctures  that  through  some  copyist  the  text  of  Exo- 
i  li;is  hepD  changed.  Ho  confesses,  however,  that  there  is 
external  evidence  of  any  weight  in  favor  of  tlie  conjee- 
■e.-TE.] 


B.— THE  FIRST  COMPENDIOUS  LAW  OF  SACRIFICE. 
Chapter  XX.  22-2G. 

22  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 

23  Ye  have  seen  that  I  have  talked  with  you  from  heaven.    Ye  shall  not  make  with 

24  me  gods  of  silver,  neither  shall  ye  make  unto  you  gods  of  gold.'     An  altar  of  earth 

TEXTU^^L   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 


g   i  1     t    1      tt,3H        On  the  other  land  how    v  i   tl     i        1 

\   "\      Tl     I  tt  ri    aiortpi  b\  L\\    (ihere  h  wever  we  finl  u^  t-  11    tea 
Qtirely  untranBiated)     But  the  m  yonty  of  Bch  lara  prefer  the  other  division  - 


EXODUS. 


tliou  shalt  make  unto  me,  and  shalt  sacrifice  thereon  thy  burnt-offerings,  and  thy 
peace-offerings,  thy  sheep,  and  thine  oxen :  in  all  places  where  I  record  my  name  I 

25  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee.     And  if  thou  wilt  make  [thou  make]  me 
'an  altar  of  stone,  thou  shalt  not  build  it  of  hewn  stone;  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool 

26  upon  it,  thou  hast  polluted  it.     Neither  shalt  thou  go  up  by  steps  unto  mine  altar, 
that  thy  nakedness  be  not  discovered  thereon. 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CEITICAI,. 
We  have  to  do  here  with  an  altogether  peculiar 
section,  the  germ  of  all  Leviticus,  or  even  of  the 
whole  ritual  law.  This  is  too  little  rccognizeJ 
when  Keil  gives  aa  one  division:  chaps,  xx.  22- 
xxiv.  2,  under  the  title,  "  Leading  Features  in 
the  Covenant  Constitution,"  and  then  makes  the 
subdivision:  (1)  The  gener.al  form  of  Israel's 
worship  of  God  ;  (2)  The  laws  of  Israel.  Knobel 
has  observed  the  turning-point  in  one  respect  at 
all  events:  "The  frightful  phenomena  amidst 
which  Jehovah  announces  the  fundamental  law 
of  the  theocracy,  fill  tlie  people  with  terror; 
hence  another  mode  of  revelation  is  employed  for 
the  further  divine  disclosures.  They  beg  that 
Moses  rather  than  God  sliould  speak  with  them, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  filled  with  mortal  dieail, 
and  fear  for  their  lives.  In  this  way  the  author 
explains  why  Jehovah  revealed  the  otlver  laws  to 
Moses,  and  through  him  brought  them  to  the 
people,  whereas  He  had  addressed  the  ten  com- 
mandments immediately  to  the  people."  How 
little  more  was  needed  in  order  to  discern  the 
genesis  of  the  hierai-ohioal  mediatorship. 

Vers.  22,  23.  Have  talked  with  you  from 
heaven. ^This  is  the  basis  for  the  negative  part 
of  the  theocratic  ritual,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
explanation  of  the  worship  of  images  and  idols. 
This  rests  on  the  fancy  that  Jehovah  cannot  ap- 
proach men  from  heaven,  and  that  man  cannot 
hear  the  word  of  Jehovah  from  heaven;  that 
therefore  images  of  gods  and  heavenly  objects 
are  necessary  as  media  between  the  Deity  and 
mankind.  It  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  forego- 
ing that  this  prohibition  does  not  exclude  the 
mediatorship  of  Moses,  still  less  the  mediatoi-ship 
of  Christ  in  the  New  Covenant,  for  it  is  through 
this  real  mediation  that  heaven  is  to  be  brouglit 
to  earth,  and  humanity  united  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Furthermore,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  this  prohibi- 
tion is  given  here  as  a  law  respecting  worship, 
whereas  in  the  decalogue  it  has  a  fundamental 
ethical  significance.  Hence  we  read  here:  ''Ye 
shall  not  make  "JjlX,  with  me,"  by  which  is  desig- 
nated the  adoration  of  images  in  religious  ser- 
vices, as  involving  the  germ  of  idolatry.  It  is 
here  incidenlally  sugnjosted  that  images  are  pro- 
hibited b.r  i,-r  .lclh.v;ih  was  veiled  in  a  cloud, 
and,  ";n  a  ,,  ,!,  I  ,  .  ncr,  can  be  pictured  by  no 
earthly  n<:,'       ,,l.        ;;    il. ) 

Ver.  21.  /  I  '  I  :  I  lie  of  worship.  Kegard- 
ing  it  as  Cfrtaiu  that  there  had  been  already  a 
traditional  service  of  God,  connected  with  sacri- 
ficial rites,  we  cannot  fail  to  discern  here  a  design 
to  counteract  extravagances,  and  to  present  in 
the  simplest  possible  form  this  ritual  devoted  to 
theocratic  worship.  It  maybe  taken  as  signifi- 
cant for  the  service  of  the  Church  also,  that  this 
fundamental,  simple  regulation  did  not  exclude 
further  developments,  or  even  modifications.    Of 


course  the  modifications  of  this  outward  mani- 
festation of  piety  must  have  an  inward  ground. 
How  then  did  the  altar  of  the  tabernacle  grow 
out  of  the  low  altar  of  earth  or  of  unhewn 
stones  ?  First,  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  altar 
of  the  tabernacle  was  threefold:  the  altar  of 
burnt-off'ering  in  the  court  (xxvii.  1);  the  altar 
of  incense  in  the  sanctuary  (xxx.  1);  and  the 
mercy-seat  in  the  Holy  of  holies  (xxvi.  31;  xxv. 
21).  The  altar  of  burnt-oflfering  was  of  acacia 
wood,  overlaid  with  copper,  and  three  cubits 
high.  The  altar  of  incense,  also  of  acacia  wood, 
was  overlaid  with  gold;  finally,  the  mercy-seat 
was  of  pure  gold.  This  gradation  points  back 
from  the  gold  through  the  gilding  and  the  copper 
to  the  starting-point,  the  altar  of  earlh  or  of 
stone.  This  primitive  form  continued  to  be  the 
normal  type  for  the  altars  which,  not  wit  listauding 
the  fixed  centre  in  the  exclusive  place  of  wor- 
ship, were  always  prescribed  for  extraordinary 
places  of  revelation  (Dent,  xxvii.  5;  Josh.  viii. 
80;  Judg.  vi.  26).  Not  only  the  right,  but  also 
the  duty,  of  marking  by  altars  real  places  of  re- 
velations, was  therefore  reserved ;  the  worship  in 
high  places  easily  followed  as  an  abuse.  Only  in 
opposition  to  this  abuse  was  the  central  sanctuary 
the  exclusive  place  of  worship;  but  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  a  permanent  altar  in  the  sanctuary 
could  not  continue  to  be  so  much  like  a  natural 
growth,  but  had  to  be  symbolically  conformed  to 
its  surroundings  in  the  sanctuary. 

An  altar  of  earth. — "  The  altar,  as  an  ele- 
vation built  of  earth  or  unhewn  stones,  symbolizes 
the  elevation  of  man  to  the  God  who  is  enthroned 
on  high,  in  heaven"  (Keil).  Most  especially  it 
is  a  monument  of  the  place  where  God  is  re- 
vealed; then  a  symbol  of  the  response  of  a  hu- 
man soul  yielding  to  the  divine  call,  Gen.  xii.  7; 
xxii.  9;  xxviii.  18;  Ex.  iii.  12,  etc.  Hence  it  is 
said:  ''In  all  places  where  I  cnuse  my  name  to 
be  remembered."  "Generally,"  says  Knobel, 
"  the  passage  is  referred  to  the  altar  of  the  taber- 
nacle, which  subsequently  was  to  stand  now  here, 
now  there.  But  this  will  not  do.  For  (1)  The 
author  in  no  way  points  to  this  single,  particular 
altar,  but  speaks  quite  generally  of  any  sacrificial 
worship  of  Jehovah,  and  gives  no  occasion  to 
bring  in  the  tabernacle  here  contrary  to  the  con- 
nection. (2)  The  altar  of  burnt-oft'ering  in  the 
tabernacle  was  not  made  of  earth,  but  consisted 
of  boards  overlaid  with  copper  (xxvii.  Isq.). 
(3)  Jehovah  could  not  say  that  He  would  come 
to  Israel  at  every  place  where  the  tabernacle 
stood,  because  He  dwelt  in  the  tabernacle,  and 
in  it  went  with  Israel  (xiii.  21  sq.,  etc.)."  But 
though  the  tabernacle  denotes  the  legal  and  sym- 
bolical residence  of  Jehovah,  yet  that  does  not 
mean  that  Jehovah  in  a  human  way  and  perpe- 
tually dwells  in  the  tabernacle.  The  tabernacle 
was  only  the  place  where  He  was  generally  to  be 
found,  more  than  elsewhere,  and  for  the  whole 
people;  but  Jehovah  was  not  confined  to  the  ta- 


CHAP.  XXI.  1— XXIII. 


bernaele.  The  designation  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  as  one  of  copper  shows  that  a  rising  scale 
was  formed:  from  the  earth  to  stone,  and  from 
stone  to  copper,  and  from  this  still  higher  to  gold 
plate  and  to  solid  gold.  So  in  the  way  of  self- 
surrender,  of  offerings  under  the  fire  of  God's 
self-revelation,  out  of  the  man  of  earth  is 
formed  the  second  man,  the  child  of  golden 
light.  On  the  original  form  of  altars,  earth  en- 
closed with  turf,  vid.  Knobel,  p.  211.  As  simple 
as  the  original  form  of  the  altar  are  the  original 
forms  of  offerings :  burnt-offerings  and  thank- 
offerings.  Both  constitute  the  first  ramification 
of  the  Passover,  which  in  the  Levitical  ritual 
branches  out  still  further. 

Ver.  25.  An  altar  of  stone. — The  aspiration 
of  religious  men  after  more  imposing  forms  of 
worship  is  not  prohibited  by  Jehovah,  but  it  is 
restricted.  The  stone  altar  was  to  be  no  splen- 
did structure.  By  any  sharp  iron  (^'in,  gene- 
rally siaord)  the  stone  is  desecrated — i.  e.,  under 
these  circumstances;  for  how  can  the  worship- 
per, when  receiving  a  new  revelation  from  God, 
be  thinking  of  decking  the  altar?  "The  precept 
occurs  again  in  Deut.  xxvii.  5  sq.;  and  altars  of 
unhewn  stone  are  mentioned  in  Josh.  viii.  31;  1 
Kings  xviii.  32;  1  Mace.  iv.  47.  They  were 
found  also  elsewhere,  e.  y.,  in  Trebizond."  (Kno- 
bel.)    The  opinion  that  hewn  stone  was  looked 


on  as  spurious  can  hardly  be  maintained,  consi- 
dering the  recognition  of  culture  and  art  in  other 
relations.  But  ivV.  Knobel,  p.  212.*  Connected 
with  the  first  restriction  in  regard  to  the  splendor 
of  the  stone  altar  is  the  second:  Neither.,  .by 
steps. — The  more  steps,  the  more  imposing  the 
altar;  therefore  no  steps!  Thereasonis:  "that 
thy  nakedness  be  not  uncovered  before  it."  Be- 
fore it,  as  being  the  symbol  of  God's  presence. 
[But  the  Hebrew  says:  "on  it."— Tb.]  As  the 
sacrifice  symbolically  covers  the  sin  of  man  be- 
fore God,  so  the  nakedness  of  the  offerer  should 
remain  covered,  as  a  reminder  of  his  sinfulness 
before  God  and  before  His  altar.  The  ethical 
side  of  the  thought  is  this:  that  a  knowledge 
of  this  exposure  might  disturb  the  reverence  of 
the  offerer.  But  inasmuch  as  the  later  altar  of 
the  ritual  service  in  the  tabernacle  was  three 
cubits  high,  and  tlierefore  probably  needed  steps 
(Lev.  is.  22),  the  priests  had  to  put  on  trowsers 
(xxviii.  42). 


C— FIRST  FORM  OF  THE  LAW  OF  THE  POLITICAL  COMMONWEALTH. 

Chapter  XXI.  1— XXIII.  33. 

a.  Eight  of  Personal  Freedom  [according  to  Bertheau,  ten  in  number). 

1  Now  tbese  are  the  judgments  [ordinances]  which  thou  shalt  set  before  tbem. 

2  If  [when]  thou  buy  [buyest]  an  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  he  shall  serve  :  and  in 

3  the  seventh  he  shall  go  out  free  for  nothing.  If  he  came  [come]  in  by  himself,  he 
shall  go  out  by  himself:  if  he  were  [be]  married,  then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with 

4  him.  If  his  master  have  given  [give]  him  a  wife,  and  she  have  borne  [bear]  him 
sous  or  daughters,  the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  her  master's,  and  he  shall  go 

5  out  by  himself     And  if  the  servant  shall  plainly  say,  I  love  my  master,  my  wife, 

6  and  my  children ;  I  will  not  go  out  free :  then  his  master  shall  bring  him  unto  the 
judges  [God]  ;  he  shall  also  bring  him  to  the  door,  or  unto  the  door-post ;  and  his 
master  shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl ;  and  he  shall  serve  him  forever. 

7  And  if  [when]  a  man  sell  [selleth]  his  daughter  to  be  a  maid-servant,  she  shall  not 

8  go  out  as  the  men-servants  do.  If  she  please  not  her  master  who  hath  betrothed 
her  to  himself,' then  shall  he  let  her  be  redeemed:  to  sell  her  unto  a  strange  nation 

9  he  shall  have  no  power,  seeing  he  hath  dealt  deceitfully  with  her.  And  if  he  have 
betrothed  [betroth]  her  unto  his  sou,  he  shall  deal  with  her  after  the  manner  of 

10  daughters.     If  he  take  him  another  wife;  her  food,  her  raiment,  and  her  duty  of 


1  [Ver.  8.  Tlie  Hebrew  I 
ivith  Geddes,  Rosenmuller  ar 


TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

rding  to  the  K'thibh,  is  X'S,  and  if  this  were  followed, 


I  should  have  to  tranelate 
'so  that  he  hath  not  betrothed  (or  will  not  betroth)  her."  Tho  K'ri  reads  17, 
"unto  him"  or  "unto  himself."  This  yields  much  the  easiest  sense,  and  is  especiaJly  confirmed  by  the  consideration  that 
n^'  of  itself  means,  not  "betroth,"  but  "appoint,"  "destine."  Followed  by  the  Dative,  it  may  in  the  connection  convej 
the  notion  of  betrothal ;  but  used  absolutely,  it  cannot  convey  it. — Te.] 


11  marriage  [marriage  due]  shall  he  not  diminish.  And  if  he  do  not  these  three  unto 
her,  then  shall  she  go  out  free  [for  nothing],  without  money. 

i.   On  Murder  and  Bodily  Injuries.     Sins  against  the  Life  of  one's  Neighbor.     [Ten  in  number,  accord- 
ing to  Bcrtheau.) 

12  He  that  smiteth  a  man,  so  that  he  die   [dieth],  shall  be  surely  put  to  death. 

13  And  if  a  man  lie  not  in  wait,  but  God  deliver  him  into  his  hand  [make  it  happen 

14  to  his  hand']  ;  then  I  will  appoint  thee  a  place  whither  he  shall  flee.  But  [And] 
if  [when]  a  man  come  [cometh]  presumptuously  upon  his  neighbor,  to  slay  him 

15  with  guile ;  thou  shalt  take  him  from  mine  altar,  that  he  may  die.     And  he  that 

16  smiteth  his  father,  or  his  mother,  shall  be  surely  put  to  death.  Aud  he  that  steal- 
eth  a  man,  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  he  shall  surely  b3  put  to 

17  death.     And  he  that  curseth  [revileth]' his  father,  or  his  mother,  shall   surely  be 

18  put  to  death.  And  if  [when]  men  strive  together,  and  one  smite  [sraittth]  another 
[the  other]   with  a  stone,  or  with  his  fist,  and  he  die   [dieth]   not,  but  keepeth 

19  his  bed :  If  he  rise  again,  and  walk  abroad  upon  his  staff,  then  shall  he  that  smote 
him  be  quit :  only  he  shall  pay  for  the  loss  of  his  time,  and  shall  cause  him  to  be 

20  thoroughly  healed.  And  if  [when]  a  man  smite  [smiteth]  his  servant,  or  his  maid, 
with  a  rod,  and  he  die  [dieth]   under  his  hand ;  he  shall   be   surely   punished. 

21  Notwithstanding,  if  he  continue  a  day  or  two,  he  shall  not  be  punished  :  for  he  is 

22  his  money.  If  [And  when]  men  strive,  and  hurt  a  woman  with  child,  so  that  her 
fruit  depart  Jrom  her  [depart],  and  yet  no  mischief  follow:  he  shall  be  surely 
punished  [fined],  according  as  the  woman's  husband  will  [shall]   lay  upon  him : 

23  and  he  shall  pay  as  the  judges  determine.^     And  if  any  mischief  follow,  then  thou 

24  shalt  give  life  for  life.  Eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  hand  for  hand,  foot  for  foot, 
25,  26  Burning  for  burning,  wound  for  wound,  stripe  for  stripe.     And  if  [when]  a 

man  smite  [smiteth]  the  eye  of  his  servant,  or  the  eye  of  his  maid,  that  it  perish 

27  [and  destroyeth  it]  :  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  eye's  sake.  And  if  he  smite 
out  his  man-servant's  tooth,  or  his  maid-servant's  tooth  ;  he  shall  let  him  go  free 
for  his  tooth's  sake. 

c.  Injuries  resulting  from  Relations  of  Property.     Tlirough  Property  and  of  Property.     Acts  of 
Carelessness  and  Theft.      (Ten,   according  to  Btrtheau.) 

28  If  [And  when]  an  ox  gore  [goreth]  a  man  or  a  woman,  that  they  die,  then  the  ox 
shall  be  surely  stoned,  and  his  flesh  shall  not  be  eaten;  but  the  owner  of  the  ox 

29  shall  be  quit.  But  if  the  ox  were  [hath  been]  wont  to  push  with  his  horn  [to  gore] 
in  time  past,  and  it  hath  been  testified  to  his  owner,  and  he  hath  not  kept  him  in 
[keepeth  him  not  in],  but  that  he  hath  killed  [and  he  killeth]  a  mnn  or  a  woman ; 

30  the  ox  shall  be  stoned,  and  his  owner  also  shall  be  put  to  death.  If  there  be  laid 
on  him  a  sum  of  money  [ransom],  then  he  shall  give  for  the  ransom  [redemption] 

31  of  his  life  whatsoever  is  laid  upon  him.     Whether  he  have  gored  a  son,  or  have 

32  gored  a  daughter,  according  to  this  judgment  shall  it  be  done  unto  him.  If  the  ox 
shall  push   [gore]  a  man-servant  or  maid-servant,  he  shall  give  unto  their  master 

83  thirty  shekels  of  silver,  and  the  ox  shall  be  stoned.  And  if  [when]  a  man  shall 
open  a  pit,  or  if  [when]  a  man  shall  dig  a  pit,  and  not  cover  it,  and  an  ox  or  an 

84  ass  fall  therein  ;  The  owner  of  the  pit  shall  make  it  good,  and  [good;  he  shall]  give 

35  money  unto  the  owner  of  them  ;  and  the  dead  beast  shall  be  his.  And  if  [when]  one 
man's  ox  hurt  [hurteth]  another's,  that  he  die  [dieth]  ;  then  they  shall  sell  the  live  ox, 

36  and  divide  the  money  [price]  of  it;  and  the  dead  ox  also  they  shall  divide.     Or  if 

!  [Ver.  13.  n3X  cannot  mean  "deliTer,"  and  no  object  is  expreased.  It  is  therefore  unwarrantable  to  render,  with 
A.  v.,  "  delivpr  him,"  or  even  with  Lange,  "  let  him  accidentally  fall  into  his  band."  The  object  to  be  snpplicd  is  the  inde- 
flaite  one  suggested  by  Ibe  preceding  sentence,  tw.  bumicide. — Tr.J 

«  [Ver.  17.  77p,  though  generally  rendered  "cuise"  in  A.  V  ,  yet  differs  unmistakably  from  "11N  in  being  used  not 
merely  of  cursmg,  but  of  evil  speaking  in  general,  «.  g.  Judg.  ix.  27  and  2  Sam.  xri.  9.  The  LXX.  rentier  it  correetly  by 
XMoAoveu.  And  this  word,  where  tUo  passage  is  quoted  in  the  New  Testament,  is  rendered  by  tlio  same  Greek  word,  viz. 
Matt.  XV.  4.— Tk.J 

*  [Ver.  23.  The  Hob.  reads  0^7733,  lit.  "with  judges"  or  "among  jndges."  Some  render  "unto  the  judges;**  others 
"  before  the  Judges ;"  hut  the  preposition  does  not  naturally  convey  either  of  these  senses.  The  A.  V.  probably  expresses 
the  true  meaning :  *'  with  judges,"  i.  e.  the  hue  bting  judicially  imposed. — Tb.] 


CHAP.  XXr.  1— XXIII.  33.  85 

it  be  kno^vn  tliat  the  ox  hath  used  to  push  [hath  been  wont  to  gore]  iu  time  past, 
and  his  owner  hath  not  kept  him  in ;  he  shall  surely  pay  ox  for  ox ;  and  the  dead 
shall  be  his  own. 

Chap.  XXII.  1  If  [When]  a  man  shall  steal  [stealeth]  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  and  kill 
[killeth]  it,  or  sell  [selleth]  it ;  he  shall  restore  [pay]  ti  veoxen  for  an  ox,  and  four  sheep 

2  for  a  sheep.     If  a  [the]  thief  be  fjund  breaking  up  [in],  and  be  smitten  that  he  die 

3  [so  that  he  dieth],  there  shall  no  blood  he  shed  [no  blood-guiltiness]  for  him.  If 
the  sun  be  risen  upon  him,  there  shall  be  blood  shed  [blood-guiltiness]  for  him  ;  for 
he  [him  ;  he]  should  make  full  restitution  ;  if  he  have  nothmg,  then  he  shall  be  sold 

4  for  his  theft.     If  the  theft  be  certainly  found  in  his  hand  alive,  whether  it  be  ox, 

5  or  ass,  or  sheep ;  he  shall  restore  [pay]  double.  If  [When]  a  man  shall  cause 
[causeth]  a  field  or  vineyard  to  be  eaten  [fed  upon],  and  shall  put  in  his  beast  [letteth 
his  beast  loose],  and  shall  feed  [and  it  feedeth]  in  another  man's  field;  of  the  best 

6  of  his  own  field,  and  of  the  best  of  his  own  vineyard,  shall  he  make  restitution.  If 
[When]  fire  break  [breaketh]  out,  and  catch  [catcheth]  in  thorns,  so  that  the 
stacks  of  corn  [grain],  or  the  standing  corn  [grain],  or  the  field,  be  [is]  consumed 
therewith;  he  [consumed;  he]  that  kindled  the  fire  shall  surely  make  [make  full] 
restitution. 

d.   Tilings  Entrusted  and  Tilings  Lost. 

7  If  [When]  a  man  shall  deliver  unto  his  neighbor  money  or  stuff  to  keep,  and  it 
be  [is]  stolen  out  of  the  man's  house;  if  the  thief  be  found,  let  him  pay  double. 

8  If  the  thief  be  not  found,  then  the  master  of  the  house  shall  be  brought  unto  the 
judges  [unto  God],  to  see  whether  he  have  put  [have  not  put]  his  hand  unto  his 

9  neighbor's  goods.  For  all  manner  of  trespass  [In  every  case  of  trespass],  ivhether 
it  be  for  ox,  for  ass,  for  sheep,  for  raiment,  or  lor  any  manner  of  lost  [any  lost] 
thing,  which  another  challengeth  to  be  his  [of  which  one  saith.  This  is  it],  the  cause 
of  both  parties  shall  come  before  the  judges  [God]  ;  and  [he]  whom  the  judges 

10  [God]  shall  condemn,  he  [condemn]  shall  pay  double  unto  his  neighbor.  If  [When] 
a  man  deliver  [delivereth]  unto  his  neighbor  an  ass,  or  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  or  any 
beast,  to  keep ;  and  it  die  [dieth],  or  be  [is]  hurt,  or  driven  away,  no  man  seeing 

11  it:  Then  shall  an  [the]  oath  of  Jehovah  be  between  them  both,  that  [whether]  he 
hath  not  put  his  hand  unto  his  neighbor's  goods ;  and  the  owner  of  it  shall  accept 

12  thereoJ[it],  and  heshall  not  makeit  good  [make  restitution].  And  if  it  be  stolen  from 

13  him,  he  shall  make  restitution  unto  the  owner  thereof  If  it  be  torn  in  pieces,  then 
let  him  bring  it  for  witness  ;  and  [witness  ;]  he  shall  not  make  good  that  which  was 

14  torn.  And  if  [when]  a  man  borrow  [borroweth]  aught  of  his  neighbor,  and  it  be 
[is]  hurt,  or  die  [dieth],  the  owner  thereof  being  not  with  it,  he  shall  surely  make 

l.b  it  good  [shall  make  full  restitution].     But  if  [If]  the  owner  thereof  6e  with  it,  he 

16  shall  not  make  it  good :  if  it  be  an  hired  thing,  it  came  for  his  [its]  hire.  And  if 
[when]  a  man  entice  [enticeth]  a  maid  [virgin]  that  is  not  betrothed,  and  lie  [lieth] 

17  with  her,  he  shall  surely  endow  her  to  be  his  wife.  If  her  father  utterly  refuse  to 
give  her  unto  him,  he  shall  pay  money  according  to  the  dowry  of  virgins. 

e.  Unnatural  Crimes.     Religious  and  Inhumane  Abominations.     (Arranged  according  to  Bertheau.) 

18,  10     (1)  Thou  shalt  not  suflier  a  witch  to  live.     (2)  Whosoever  lieth  with  a  beast 

20  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  (3)  He  that  sacrificeth  unto  any  god,  save  unto 
Jehovah   only,  he  [only,]  shall  be   utterly   destroyed    [devoted   to   destruction]. 

21  (4)  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  [wrong]  a  stranger,  nor  oppress  him :  for   ye   were 

22  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt.     (5)  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow,  or  fatherless 

23  child.     If  thou  afflict  them  in  any  wise,  and  they  cry  at  all  unto  me,  I  will  surely 

24  hear  their  cry;  And  ray  wrath  shall  wax  hot,  and  I  will  kill  you  with  the  sword; 

25  and  your  wives  shall  be  widows,  and  your  children  fatherless.  (6)  If  thou  lend 
money  to  any  of  my  people  that  is  poor  by  thee  [with  thee  that  is  poor],  thou  shalt 
not  be  to  him  as  an  usurer;  neither  shalt  thou  [shall  ye]  lay  upon  him  usury  [interest]. 

26  (7)  If  thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbor's  raiment  to  pledge,  thou  shalt  deliver  [restore] 

27  it  unto  him  by  that  the  sun  goeth  down :  For  that  is  his  covering  only  [only  cover- 
ing], it  is  his  raiment  for  his  skin :  wherein  shall  he  sleep  ?    And  it  shall  come  to 


28  pass,  when  he  crietb  unto  me,  that  I  will  hear;  for  I  am  gracious.     (8)  Thou  shalt 

29  not  revile  the  gods  [God],  nor  curse  the  [a]  ruler  of  [among]  thy  people.  (9) 
Thou  shalt  not  delay  to  offer  [not  kesp  back]  the  first  of  thy  ripe  fruits  and  of  thy 
liquors  [the  first-fruits  of  thy  thi-eshing  floor  and  of  thy  press]  ■?  the  first-born  of 

30  thy  sons  shalt  thou  give  unto  me.  Likewise  shalt  thou  do  with  thine  oxen,  and 
with  thy  sheep :  seven  days  it  shall  be  with  his  [its]  dam ;  on  the  eighth  day  thou 

31  shalt  give  it  me.  (10)  And  ye  shall  be  holy  men  unto  me;  neither  shall  ye  [and 
ye  shall  not]  eat  any  flesh  that  is  torn  of  beasts  in  the  field ;  ye  shall  cast  it  to  the 
dogs. 

/.   Judicial  Proceedings. 

XXIII.  1     (1)  Thou  shalt  raise  [carry]  a  false  report:  (2)  put  not  thine  [thy]  hand 

2  with  the  wicked  to  bs  an  unrighteous  witness.  (3)  Thou  shalt  not  follow  a  multi- 
tude to  rfo  evil ;  neither  shalt  thou  speak  in  a  cause  to  decline  [turn  aside]   after 

3  many  [a  multitude]  to  virest  judgment :  (4)  Neither  shalt  thou  countenance   [be 

4  partial  to]  a  poor  man  in  his  cause.  (5)  If  [When]  thou  meet  [meetest]  thine 
enemy's  ox  or  his  ass  going  astray,  thon  shalt  surely  bring  it  back  to  him  again 

5  [to  him].  (6)  If  [When]  thou  see  [seest]  the  ass  of  him  that  hateth  thee  lying 
under  his  burden,  and  wouldest  forbear  to  help  him   [thou  shalt  forbear  to  leave 

6  him],  thou  shalt  surely  help  [release  i<]  with  him."     (7)  Thou  shalt  not  wrest  the 

7  judgment  of  thy  poor  in  his  cause.     (8)  Keep  thee  far  from  a  false  matter;  and 

8  the  innocent  and  righteous  slay  them  not :  for  I  will  not  justify  the  wicked.  (9) 
And  thou  shalt  take  no  gift  [bribe]  :  for  the  gift  [a  bribe]  blindeth  the  wise  [the 

9  seeing],  and  perverteth  the  words  of  the  righteous.  (10)  Also  thou  shalt  not  op- 
press a  stranger:  for  ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger,  seeing  ye  were  strangers  ia 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

g.  Utiles  for  Holidays  and  Festivals. 

10  (1)  And  six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  land,  and  shalt  gather  in  the  fruits  thereof: 

11  But  the  seventh  year  thou  shalt  let  it  rest  and  lie  still  [fallow]  ;  that  the  jioor  of 
thy  people  may  eat:  and  what  they  leave  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  eat.     In  like 

12  manner  thou  shalt  deal  with  thy  vineyard,  and  with  thy  olive-yard.  (2)  Six  days 
thou  shalt  do  thy  work,  and  on  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest:  that  thine  ox  and 
thine  ass  may  rest,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid,  and  the  stranger  may  be  refreshed. 

13  And  in  [unto]  all  thmg.'i  that  I  have  said  unto  you  be  circumspect  [take  heed]: 
and  make  no  mention  of  the  name  of  other  gods,  neither  let  it  be  heard  [gods  ;  let  it 

14  not  be  heard]  out  of  thy  mouth,     (o)  Three  times  thou  shalt  keep  a  feast  unto  me  in 

15  the  year.  (4)  Thou  shalt  keep  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread:  thou  shalt  eat 
unleavened  bread  seven  days,  as  I  commanded  thee,  in  the  time  appointed  [at  the 
set  time]  of  [in]   the  month  Abib ;  for  in  it  thou  earnest  out  from  Egypt :  and 

16  none  shall  appear  before  me  empty:  (5)  And  the  feast  of  harvest,  the  [of  the]  first 
fruits  of  thy  labors,  which  thou  hast  sown  [sowest]  in  the  field:  (6)  and  the  feast 
of  ingathering,  xvhich  is  in   [ingathering,  at]  the  end  of  the  year,  when  thou  hast 

17  gathered  [thou  gatherest]  in  thy  labors  out  of  the  field.     (7)  Three  times  in  the 

18  year  all  thy  males  shall  appear  before  the  Lord  God  [Jehovah].  (8)  Thou  shalt 
not  ofier  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with  leavened  bread;  neither  shall  the  fat  of  my 

19  sacrifice  [feast]  remain  until  the  morning.  (9)  The  first  of  the  first-fruits  of  thy 
land  thou  shalt  bring  into  the  house  of  Jehovah,  thy  God.  (10)  Thou  shalt  not  seethe 
[boil]  a  kid  in  his  [its]  mother's  milk. 

h.    The  Promises. 

20  (1)  Behold,  I  send  an  angel  before  thee,  to  keep  thee,  in  [by]  the  way,  and  to 

'  rXXII.  29.  Litemlly.  "thy  fullness  nnd  thy  tenr."  The  phrase  "  ripo  fruits"  is  ohj-ctioDiible  as  including  too  much  ; 
*  liquors"  as  siijip'S  inp  u  wrons  concprion.  7  ho  firsr.  re'>rs  to  tho  crops  gene  ally,  exclusive  of  tiie  olive  and  the  ^rape, 
IVom  wh'ch  oil  and  wine,  tlie  liquid  prouucts  ("tear"),  wore  dciived,  Cranmer's  Bible  renders,  not  inaptly :  '*thy  fruits, 
whether  they  be  dry  or  moist." — Tr.] 

•  [XXIII.  5,  The  rendering  of  A.  V, :  "and  wouldest  forbea*-,"  is  utterly  untenable.  Not  less  so  is  the  rendering  of 
2IJ?  by  "help."  The  simplest  explanation  assumes  a  double  meaning  of  31]},  viz.  to  "loose,"  and  to  "leave."  We 
mi|-lit  borrow  a  vnlcar  phrase,  and  read:  "Thnii  slialt  forbear  to  cut  loose  from  him,  thou  shalt  cut  loose  with  him."  De 
^^■■■tle  and  Murnhy  att-mpt  to  avniil  the  donl'le  ineauini;  by  emphasizrns  ■'  with."  Tlius:  "Thou  ehiih  forbear  to  leave  it 
to  him  ;  thon  shalt  Icavo  it  wilh  him."    But  tliia  ia  a  nicety  quite  alien  from  the  Hebrow. — Te.] 


CHAP.  S5.  1— XXIII. 


87 


21  bring  thee  into  the  place  which  I  have  prepared.  Beware  of  him,  and  obey  his 
voice,  provoke  him  not :  tor  he  will  not  pardon  your  trangressions :  for  my  name 

22  is  in  him.  But  [For]  if  thou  sbalt  indeed  obey  his  voice,  and  do  all  that  I  speak  ; 
then  I  will  be  an  enemy  uutu  thine  enemies,  and  an  advereary  uuto  thine  adversa- 

23  ries.  (2)  For  mine  angel  shall  go  betbre  thee,  and  bring  thee  in  unto  the  Amo- 
rites,  and  the  Hittites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Canaanites,  the  Hivites,  and  the 

24  Jebusites:  and  I  will  cut  them  otf.  Thou  shale  not  bow  down  to  their  gods,  nor 
serve  them,  nor  do  after  their  works:  but  thou  shalt  utterly  overthrow   them,  and 

25  quite  break  down  their  images.  (3)  And  ye  shall  serve  Jehovah  your  God,  and 
he  shall  [will]  bless  thy  bread  and  thy  water ;  (-i)  and  I  will  take  sickness  away 

26  from  the  midst  of  thee.     (5)  There  shall  nothing  [no  one]  cast  their  [her]  young, 

27  nor  be  barren,  in  thy  land  ;  {Qj  the  number  of  thy  days  I  will  fulfil.  (7)  I  will  send 
my  fear  [terror]  before  thee,  and  will  destroy  [discomfit]  all  the  people  to -whom 

28  thou  shalt  come,  and  I  will  make  all  thine  enemies  turn  their  backs  unto  thee.  (8) 
And  I  will  send  [send  the]  hornets  before  thee,  which  [and  they]  shall  drive  out  the 

29  Hivite,  the  Canaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  from  before  thee.  (9)  I  will  not  drive 
them  out  from  before  thee  in  cue  year  ;  lest  the  land  become  desolate,  and  the  beast 

30  of  the  field  multiply  against  thee.     By  little  and  little  I  will  drive  them  out  from 

31  before  thee,  until  thou  be  increased,  and  iuherlt  the  land.  (10)  And  I  will  set  thy 
bounds  from  the  Red  Sea  even  unto  the  sea  of  the  Philistines,  and  from  the 
desert  imto  the  river :  for  I  will  deliver  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  your 

32  hand;  and  thou  shalt  drive  them  out  before  thee.     Thou  shalt  make  no  covenant 

33  with  them,  nor  with  their  gods.  They  shall  not  dwell  in  thy  land,  lest  they  make 
thee  sin  against  me :  for  if  thou  serve  their  gods,  it  will  surely  be  a  snare  unto  thee. 

the  commandment :  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  (if) 
Akin  to  the  foregoing,  and  yet  different,  are  the 
regulations  concerning  goods  put  in  another's 
care,  and  goods  lost,  (e)  The  regulations  con- 
cerning unnatural  crimes,  offences  against  reli- 
gion and  humanity  are  more  specially  connected 
wiih  the  first  and  wiih  the  fifth  and  tenth  com- 
mandmenla.  (/)  The  section  on  judicial  pro- 
cesses reminds  us  of  the  prohibition  of  lalse 
witness,  (ff)  The  division  relating  to  holidays 
and  feast-days  reminds  us  of  the  third  com- 
mandment, but  is  more  especially  an  unfolding 
of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  (h)  Also  the  pro- 
mises which  are  annexed  to  the  fifih  and  second 
commandments  are  in  the  last  division  expanded 
into  a  fuller  form. 

Here  must  be  noticed  one  more  circumstance. 
When  regulations  of  similar  import  are  found 
in  different  sections  of  the  law,  this  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  mere  repetition,  still  less  as  confu- 
sion. The  moral  law  of  the  Sabbath,  e.  g.,  comes 
here  (xxiii.  12)  under  consideration  again,  from 
a  social  point  of  view  ;  in  Leviticus  still  again 
as  connected  with  the  ceremonial  law.  For  the 
Sabbath,  there  are  moral  and  ritual  reasons,  and 
likewise  social  or  civil  reasons,  the  latter  uniting 
the  two  former.  In  like  manner  the  great  festi- 
vals of  the  Israelites  are  here  regarded  from 
a  national,  or  civil,  point  of  view;  in  Leviti- 
cus they  are  associated  with  the  idea  of  wor- 
ship. The  occasional  precepts  concerning  pu- 
rification  and  sacrifice  in  the  book  of  Numbers 
relate  to  the  keeping  pure  of  the  social  common- 
wealth of  Jehovah,  and  are  therefore  not  prima- 
rily ceremonial.  The  tabernacle  is  found  in  Exo- 
dus, not  in  Leviticus,  because  it  is  primarily  the 
house  of  the  theocratic  lawgiver,  and  is  the  re- 
pository of  the  decalogue;  only  secondarily  the 
place  of  worship,  the  place  where  the  lawgiver 
meets  his  people. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

This  section  is  very  clearly  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  two  preceding,  so  that  after  the  purely 
religious  and  ethical  legislation,  and  after  the 
ritual,  now  the  social  and  political  legislation  is 
instituted.  The  genuinely  theocratic  character 
of  this  legislation  here  at  once  appears.  It  is 
not  a  criminal  law  in  the  first  instance,  but  a 
system  of  legal  regulations  for  a  people  that  is  to 
be  trained  for  freedom.  Hence  these  ordinances 
begin  at  once  very  significantly  with  the  regula- 
ting of  the  laws  concerning  emancipation;  and  in- 
directly all  the  main  points  of  this  law  point  to  the 
rights  of  freedom.  Just  as  the  sacrificial  usages 
were  found  already  existing,  and  were  thence- 
forth theocratically  regulated,  so  now  the  rela- 
tions of  slavery,  found  as  an  existing  fact,  were 
regulated  in  the  spirit  of  the  typical  people  of 
God.  So  Keil  entitles  the  section:  "The  fun- 
damental rights  of  the  Israelites  in  their  civil 
and  social  relations."  Less  satisfactorily  Kno- 
bel :  "  The  further  rights,  i.  e.  laws,"  etc.  But 
the  parallels  which  he  draws  between  the  Jew- 
ish legislation  and  that  of  other  ancient  people, 
and  of  heathen  people  in  general,  as  also  of  the 
modern  Mohammedan  Arabs,  are  excellent. 
We  divide  thus:  (a)  The  law  of  personal  free- 
dom. That  this  may  correspond  with  the  first 
commandment  of  the  decalogue,  the  duty  of  hold- 
ing sacred  the  divine  personality,  is  obvious. 
(A)  The  second  division,  on  murder  and  bodily 
injuries,  quite  as  unmistakably  aims  to  secure 
the  human  form  from  abuse  or  disfigurement,  as 
the  second  commandment  to  keep  the  divine 
image  from  being  deformed  ;  but  it  is  also  con- 
nected with  the  commandment:  Thou  shalt  not 
kill,  (f)  The  third  division,  on  injuries  which 
result  from  the  relations  of  properly,  points  to 


a.   Law  of  Personal  Freedom. 

(1)  The  Hebrew  man-servant,  vers.  1-G ;  (2) 
The  Hebrew  maid-servant,  vers.  7-11.  The  fur- 
ther development  of,  and  reasons  for,  (he  law  of 
emancipation,  vid.  in  Deut.  xv.  12-18.  "The 
Hebrew  man-servant  after  six  years  of  service 
is  to  receive  his  freedom  gratis.  According  to 
Deut.  XV.  12  this  holds  also  of  the  Hebrew  maid- 
servant. The  attributive  '13j;  designates  the 
servant  as  an  Israelite  (comp.  -yni*  in  Deut.)  in 
distinction  from  the  slaves  derived  from  non- 
Israelitish  foreign  nations,  to  whom  this  law 
does  not  apply"  (Keil).  The  law  evidently 
tends  fb wards  securing  the  universality  of  perso- 
nal freedom.  Dut  it  also  knows  that  within  the 
theocracy,  in  the  servitude  which  is  mitigated 
by  it,  there  is  an  element  susceptible  of  educa- 
tion. Therefore  the  servant  is  not  compelled  to 
become  free  in  the  seventh  year.  We  are  to  con- 
sider that  the  sons  of  the  household  also  then 
stood  in  the  relation  of  strict  subjection,  so  that 
a  dutiful  servant  became  more  and  more  like 
them.  Vid.  xxiii.  12,  Lev.  xxv.  6,  etc.  The 
servant  might  also  be  led  by  devotion  to  his  wife, 
given  to  him  by  his  master  during  his  servi- 
tude, and  to  her  children,  to  remain  a  servant. 
With  reference  to  this  the  three  cases  in  vers.  3 
and  4  were  to  be  distinguished.  The  fixing  of 
the  seventh  year  as  the  year  of  emancipation  is 
connected  with  the  sabbatical  year,  but  does 
not  coincide  with  it.  How  one  could  become  a 
slave  among  the  Israelites  is  told  in  xxii.  3,  Lev. 
XXV.  39.  But  how  the  emancipation  was  to  be 
beautified  and  enriched  is  seen  in  the  parallel 
passage  in  Deuteronomy  [xv.  12-15].  On  the 
manner  of  emancipation  vid.  Keil  p.  130.  Unto 
God.' — Not  to  the  priests,  but  to  the  court  of 
the  assembly,  which  passed  judgment  in  the 
name  of  God,  and  whose  sentence  was  a  divine 
dispensation.  Similar  expressions  vid.  in  Kno- 
bel,  p.  214.  There  had  therefore  to  be  a  public 
declaration  that  the  servant  voluntarily  re- 
mained a  servant.  "  The  boring  of  the  ears  was 
among  the  Orientals  a  sign  of  slavery"  (Kno- 
bel).  The  ear-rings  among  the  Carthaginians 
from  being  a  symbol  of  slavery  came  to  be  an 
ornament,  like  the  cross  among  Christians.  The 
case  mentioned  in  Lev.  xxv.  39  is  probably  a 
modification,  but  according  to  Knobel  is  a  con- 
tradiction, of  the  law  before  us. — Vers.  7-11  : 
Tlie  hraelilish  daughter  aa  servant  and  concubine. 
Knobel  makes  no  distinction  between  concubinage 
as  it  is  found  among  the  patriarchs,  and  the 
usual  custom  of  the  Jews.  But  in  reply  see  the 
Commentary  on  Genesis, p.  80.  She  shall  not 
go  out  as  the  men-servants  do.— It  followa 
from  the  nature  of  her  position  that  it  is  a  benefit 
to  her  if  she  can  remain  in  the  house  of  her  mas- 
ter, provided  that  the  rights  of  the  concubine 
are  respected.  It  is  therefore  presupposed 
either  that  he  takes  hor  for  himself,  or  gives  her 
to  his  son,  or  maintains  her  honor  by  the  side 
of  his  son's  wife.  In  the  first  case,  he  must  let 
her  be  redeemed  ;  in  the  second  case,  he  must 
accord  to  her  the  domestic  rights  of  an  associate 
wife.  If  he  is  not  willing  to  give  her  this  pro- 
tection, he  must  let  her  go' free  for  nothing. 
lu  this  connection  the  precepts  of  Deut.  xv.  12  are 


also  to  be  considered.     Vers.  8,  9.  Who  hath 

betrothed  her  to  himself.— "The  K^  before 
mi?'  belongs  to  the  15  passages  designated  by 
the  Massor.ah  in  which  N7  stands  for  w" 
(Keil;  compare  Knobel).  To  sell  her  unto  a 
strange  people.— Knobel :  ''The  Greek,  too, 
did  not  sell  a  Greek  slave  to  go  beyond  the 
boundary  of  the  land."  Seeing  he  hath 
dealt  deceitfully  with  her. — It  would  cer- 
tainly create  a  difficulty  to  translate,  "on  ac- 
count of  his  infidelity  towards  her,"  as  if  this 
unfaithfulness  were  the  only  reason  why  an  Is- 
raelitess  might  not  be  sold  to  heathen.  There- 
fore the  emphasis  probably  lies  on  the  thought 
that  his  injustice  would  be  doubly  great  if  even 
in  this  case,  in  which  he  has  gone  so  far  as  to 
sen^l  her  away,  he  should  also  in  his  treachery 
to  her  violate  the  theocratic  law.  That  the 
word  nJ3  has  a  specially  important  meaning,  is 
seen  from  Ps.  Ixxiii.  15.  Comp.  Deut.  xxi.  14, 
and  the  account  of  the  Arabian  customs  in  Kno- 
bel, p.  216.  If  he  betroth  her  unto  his 
son. — Comp.  Knobel  also  on  a  Per.'-ian  or  Ara- 
bian custom  of  a  similar  sort.  As  his  son's 
concubine  she  is  to  be  regarded  by  him  as  a 
daughter.  Ver.  9.  If  he  take  him  another 
wife. — That  is,  the  father  for  his  son.  So  Keil ; 
but  Knobel  understands  it  to  mean  :  If  he  takes 
another  for  himself.  Keil  well  disposes  of  the 
views,  according  to  which  either  the  son  is  the 
subject,  or  the  father  takes  for  himself.*  Her 
food,  etc. — All  of  her  domestic  rights  are  to  re- 
main secure.  ISiy,  meat,  as  the  chief  article  of 
food,  "  because  the  lawgiver  has  men  of  wealth 
in  mind."  (Keil).  To  understand  mii*,  which 
properly  means  lying,  of  cohabitation,  yields  no 
tolerable  sense.  How  could  the  father  in  this 
thing  control  the  son  ?  Or  how  could  the  sou 
be  obliged  to  conduct  himr;elf  towards  several 
wives  in  the  same  way  as  towards  one.  Either, 
therefore,  the  expression  has  in  it  something 
figurative,  meaning:  She  must  not  as  wife  be 
neglected;  or  it  refers  to  a  seat,  a  resting-place 
(see  the  meaning  of  p;?),  which  would  wellbar- 
uionize  with  the  reference  to  food  and  raiment. 
It  is  therefore  assumed  that  under  the  conditions 
imposed  she  has  in  the  house  of  her  servitude  a 
much  better  position  than  if  she  should  be  dis- 
missed, especially  if  she  has  borne  children  who  be- 
long to  the  permanent  members  of  the  household. 

i.   On  Murder,  Eomicide,  and  Bodily  Injuries. 

(1)  Homicide  proper,  vers.  12-14.  (a)  Sim- 
ple homieide  in  consequence  of  beating  ;  (b)  un- 
intention.al,  resulting  from  misfortune  and  mis- 
take ;  (c)  murder  proper.  (2)  Spiritual  homi- 
cide, (a)  Smiting  of  parents;  (6)  deprivation 
of  freelom  (as  spiritual  fratricide)-  (f)  cursing 
of  parents  (spiritual  su  oi  le)  (3)  Bodily  inju- 
ries (?)  Of  uncertain  perhips  lital  result ;  (i) 
to  a  free  mm     (    )   a  mmseivant  or  maid-ser- 

fTI  ft  t      1        It  tt  e  language 

,„v„°  "  linhetaliea 

,o  ) ,    8    1  u      t  be  assumed  a 

"i/bti  t   t       t  thcr(tlie  pul^ 

cli  spr    t  k      t     I  1  t  e    t     n  th  s   precept 

outlit  to  lin  e  beeu  t  veu  buloio  ver  J    — IK  ] 


CHAP.  XX.  1— XXIII.  33. 


vant ;  (Hi)  a  pregnant  woman,  in  which  connec- 
tion is  to  be  noticed  that  the  jus  talionis  is  laid 
down  in  close  connectioa  with  an  extremely  hu- 
mane law  of  protection,  vers.  22-2.3;  (A)  local 
injuries  to  men-servants  or  maid-servants. 

Tor.  V2.  He  that  smiteth  a  man. — Says 
Keil :  "Higher  tlian  personal  freedom  stands 
life."  It  may  then  be  asked,  why  is  capital 
puuishment  prescribed  (ver.  16)  for  the  violent 
taking  away  of  freedom?  The  slavery  treated 
of  ia  the  preceding  section  was  no  innovation, 
but  as  a  traditional  custom  it  was  restricted,  and 
moreover  in  great  part  was  based  on  guilt  or 
voluntary  assent ;  it  had  besides  an  educational 
end.  It  is  true,  the  law  of  retaliation,  as  iu- 
ttituted  in  Gen.  ix.  6,  underlies  all  this  section; 
but  it  is  noticeable  that  this  law  is  expressly 
prescribed  just  where  the  protection  of  a  preg- 
nant woman  is  involved.  It  is  repeated  (Lev. 
xxiv.  17)  in  connection  with  the  ordinance  that 
the  blasphemer  shall  be  stoned.  The  reason  for 
the  repetition  is  the  principle  that  in  respect  to 
these  points  perfect  equality  of  riglits  should  be 
accorded  to  the  stranger  and  the  Israelite;  and 
it  was  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  tlie  blasphe- 
mer was  a  Jew  on  his  molher's  side,  but  an 
Egyptian  on  his  father's  side.  So  that  he 
dieth.— Three  cases  are  specified:  fir<i,  the  se- 
vere blow  which  in  fact,  but  not  in  intention, 
proves  mortal;  secondly,  the  unfortunate  killing 
through  mistake,  a  providential  homicide ; 
thirdly,  intentional,  and  hence  criminal  and 
guileful,  murder. 

Ver.  13.  And  if  a  man  lie  not  in  wait. — 
When,  therefore,  not  only  the  murderous  blow, 
but  any  blow,  was  unintentional,  so  that  the  case 
is  one  of  severe  divine  dispensation.  I  will 
appoint  thee  a  place. — A  place  of  refuge, 
with  reference  to  the  avengers  of  blood  wlio 
pursue  him.  A  check,  therefore,  upon  the  cus- 
tom, prevalent  in  the  East,  of  avenging  murder. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice,  from  a  critical  point  of 
view,  that  no  place  is  now  fixed  ;  this  was  done 
later,  vid.  Num.  xxxv.  11 ;  Deut.  xix.  1-10.  Here 
too  the  innocent  homicide  is  expressly  distin- 
guished from  the  violent  one.  Num.  xxxv.  22  sqq. 
Together  with  the  prescribed  place  of  refuge  for 
the  one  who  kills  by  mistake  is  found  the  stern 
provision  that  a  real  murderer,  who  has  com- 
mitted his  murder  with  criminal  and  guileful 
intent,  cannot  be  protected  even  by  fleeing  to  the 
altar  of  the  sanctuary,  as  it  was  customary  in 
ancient  times  for  those  to  do  whom  vengeance 
rightly  or  wrongly  pursued,  because,  as  some 
would  say,  the  altar  was  a  place  of  expiation. 
Even  from  the  altar  of  God  he  is  to  be  torn 
away.  The  expression  ^J''  is  not  adequately  re- 
presented by  "behave  viciously,  or  arrogantly." 
It  denotes  ihe  act  of  breaking  througli,  in  ebul- 
lient rage,  the  sacred  restraints  which  protect 
one's  neighbor  as  God's  image.  Particular 
cases,  Num.  xxxv.  IG,  Deut.  xix.  11.  Murder 
could  be  expiated  only  with  death,  Num.  xxxv. 
31.  Examples  of  fleeing  to  the  altar,  1  Kings  i. 
50;  ii.  28.  This  was  also  customary  among  the 
Greeks. 

Ver.  1.5.  Smiteth  his  father.— The  simple 
act  of  smiting,  committed  on  a  father  or  mother, 
is  made  equivalent  to  man-slaughter  committed 


on  one's  neighbor.  "  Parricide,  as  not  occur- 
ring and  not  conceivable,  is  not  at  all  mentioned" 
(Keil).  Similar  ordinances  among  tbe  Greeks, 
Romans,  and  Egyptians  are  mentioned  by  Kuo- 
bel,  p.  217.  The  two  following  provisions  rest 
on  the  same  ground.  The  parents  are  God's 
vicegerents  for  the  children ;  the  neighbor  is 
God's  image  ;  hence  a  violent  abuse  of  his  per- 
son is  equivalent  to  murder,  vid.  Deut.  xxiv.  7. 
We  explain  the  insertion  of  the  prohibition  of 
man-stealing  between  verses  lo  and  17  by  the 
fact  that  in  cursing  his  parents  the  curser  mo- 
r.ally  destroys  himself,  vid.  Eev.  xx.  9,  Deut. 
xxvii.  16.  The  order  is:  undutifulness,  man- 
stealing,  self-destruction.*  See  various  views 
of  ver.  16  in  Keil,  p.  133.  

Ver.  18  sq.   And  when  men  strive.— The 

section  concerning  bodily  injuries  as  sucli  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  section  beginning  with  ver. 
12  iathat  there  injuries  are  spoken  of  which  re- 
sult in  death.  The  injuries  here  mentioned 
would  accordingly  also  be  punished  with  death 
if  they  resulted  in  death.  This  is  shown  espe- 
cially by  ver.  20.  Here,  then,  an  injury  is  con- 
templated which  only  confines  the  injured  one 
to  his  bed.  The  penalty  is  twofold  :  First,  the 
offender  must  make  good  his  sitting  still,  i.  e. 
what  he  might  have  earned  during  this  time; 
secondly,  he  must  pay  the  expenses  of  his  cure, 
ver.  19.  In  the  case  of  a  man-servant  or  maid- 
servant a  different  custom  prevailed.  If  man- 
slaughter took  place,  the  manhood  of  the  slain 
one  is  fully  recognized,  i  e.  the  penal  retribution 
lakes  place.  Probably  sentence  was  to  be  ren- 
dered by  the  court,  which  was  to  decide  accord- 
ing to  the  circumstances.  According  to  Jewish 
interpretations  capital  punishment  was  to  be  in- 
flicted with  the  sword;  but  vid.  Knobelfor  a  dif- 
ferent view.f  On  the  one  hand,  the  danger  of  a 
fatal  blow  was  greater  than  in  other  relations, 
for  it  was  lawful  for  a  master  to  smite  his  slave 
{I'iil.  Prov.  X.  13 ;  the  rod  was  also  used  on  chil- 
dren); but  on  the  other  hand  an  intention  to 
kill  could  not  easily  be  assumed,  because  the 
slave  had  a  pecuniary  value.  Furthermore,  the 
owner  is  exempted  from  punishment,  if  the 
beaten  one  survives  a  day  or  two  ;  and  the  pun- 
isliment  then  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  slave 
washis money, i.e. thatiniujuring  the  slavchehas 
lost  his  own  money.  The  Rabbins  hold  that  (his 
applied  only  to  slaves  of  a  foreign  race,  accord- 
ing to  Lev.  XXV.  44.  This  is  not  likely,  if  at  the 
same  time,  in  case  of  death,  execution  by  the 
sword  was  to  be  prescribed  ;  also  according  to 
this  view  there  would  have  been  a  great  gap  in 
tlie  law  as  regards  Hebrew  slaves.  It  is  true, 
reference  is  here  had  only  to  injuries  inflicted 
by  the  rod.  When  one  was  killed  with  an  iron 
instrument,  an  intention  to  kill  was  assumed, 
and  then  capital  punishment  was  inflicted  un- 
conditionally, Num.  xxxv.  16,  Lev.  xxiv.  17,  21, 


*  [This  explanation  of  the  order  of  the 
be  regarded  aa  satisfactory.  In  fact,  any  a 
deep   mr-taphysicil  or  psycbnl..i;i  al   r'-a^c 


1  hardly 


Deut.  xix.  1 1  sqq.     On  the  Egyptian,  Greek,  and 
Roman  legislation,  see  Knobel,  p.  219.* 

Vers.  22-25.  Special  legal  protection  of  preg- 
nant women.  It  might  often  happen  that  in 
quarrelling  men  would  injure  a  pregnant  woman, 
since  wives  on  such  occasions  instinctively  inter- 
pose, Deut.  XXV.  11.  In  the  latter  passage  the 
rudenesses  which  the  woman,  protected  by  law, 
might  indulie  in  are  guarded  against. — So  that 
her  fruit  depart.  Literally  :  so  that  her  chil- 
dren come  out;  i  «.,  so  that  abortion  takes  place. 
According  to  Keil,  the  expression  designates 
only  the  case  of  her  bearing  real  children,  not  a 
fetus  imperfectly  developed;  i.  e.,  a  premature 
birth,  not  an  abortion,  is  meant.  "  The  expres- 
Bion  H'lV  is  used  for  the  sake  of  indefiniteness, 
since  possibly  there  might  be  more  than  one 
child  in  her  body."  Strange  interpretation  of 
the  precept,  according  to  which  the  plural  in  in- 
dividual cases  denotes  indefiniteness  !  Accord- 
ing to  this  view,  the  most,  and  perhaps  the  worst 
cases,  would  not  be  provided  for,  since  women 
far  advanced  in  pregnancy  are  most  apt  to  guard 
against  the  d.anger  of  such  injuries.  The  plural 
may  also  indicate  that  the  capacity  for  bearing 
was  injured.  "  If  no  other  injury  results  from 
the  quarrel,  reparation  is  to  be  made,  according 
as  the  husband  of  the  woman  imposes  it  on  the 
perpetrator,  and  the  latter  is  to  give  it  'with 
judges,'  i.  e.,  in  company  with,  on  application  to 
them,  in  order  that  excessive  demands  may  be 
suitably  reduced.  The  amount  of  indemnity  de- 
manded doubtless  was  determined  by  the  consi- 
deration, whether  the  injured  man  had  many  or 
few  children,  was  poor  or  rich,  elc.  The  law 
stands  appropriately  at  the  end  of  the  cases 
which  relate  to  life  and  the  inviolability  of  the 


person. 


The  unborn  child  is  reckoned  as  be 


longing  to,  and,  as  it  were,  a  part  of,  the  mo- 
ther" (Knobel). — Ver.  23.  And  if  any  mis- 
chief follow.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  legisla- 
tion that  the  law  of  retaliation  {vid.  Lev.  xxiv. 
19,  Deut,  xix.  21)  is  here  so  particularly  laid 
down.  In  its  connection  it  reads:  The  injury  of 
such  a  woman  must  be  most  sternly  expiated 
according  to  the  degree  of  it.  But  even  this  ex- 
plication of  the  law  of  retaliation  must  be  guarded 
from  a  lifeless  literalism,  as  is  shown  by  the  pro 
visions  in  vers.  26  and  27.  It  would  surely  have 
been  contrary  to  nature  to  put  out  the  eye  of  a 
master  who  had  put  out  his  servant's  eye,  or  t 
make  him  lose  tooth  for  tooth.  Keil  says,  "  The 
principle  of  retaliation,  however,  is  good  only  for 
the  free  Israelite,  not  for  the  slave."  In  the 
latter  case,  he  adds,  emancipation  takes  place. 
Emancipation,  even  on  account  of  a  toothknocke(] 
out,  has  nevertheless  the  force  of  retaliation 
which,  even  in  the  relations  of  free  Israelites, 
could  not  have  been  everywhere  literally  applied, 
e.  ff.,  in  the  case  of  burns.  On  the /us  talionis 
in  the  ancient  heathen  world,  and  generally  in 
the  Orient,  vid.  Knobel,  p.  220. 

c.  Injuries  resullinj  from  Property  relations. 
Specially  from  acts  of  Carelessness.  Chs.  xxi. 
28— xxii.'e. 


*  [According  to  whom,  the  Egyptians  punished  all  miirdprs 
vith  death  ;  ttio  Greeks  piinialied  all  murders,  but  punished 
the  murder  of  a  stave  only  by  requiring  certain  expiatory 
riles ;  the  Rom m  law,  however,  niitil  the  time  of  tlie  emperors, 
allowed  maaturs  to  treat  their  slaves  as  they  pleased.— Te.J 


We  follow  in  general  Bertbeau's  classification, 
which  makes  property  the  determining  thought. 
Keil  and  Kuobel  divide  otherwise.  Keil  with 
the  words,  "Also  against  danger  from  cattle  is 
man's  life  secured."  The  conflict  between  life 
and  property,  and  the  subordination  of  property 
i^i  here  certainly  everywhere  observed.  In  a 
critical  respect  it  may  not  bo  without  signifi- 
cance that  there  is  here  no  trace  of  horses;  also 
the  dog  is  not  mentioned.  At  the  time  of  Solo- 
mon and  Ahab  the  case  was  quite  different. 
First  are  to  be  considered  the  accidents  occa- 
sioned by  oxen  that  hook,  vers.  28-.32.  But  this 
list  is  connected  with  the  following  one,  which 
treats  of  the  misfortunes  which  men  may  suffer 
in  respect  to  their  oxen  or  asses  through  the 
fault  of  neighbors,  in  which  case  a  distinction  is 
made  between  the  injuries  resulting  from  care- 
lessness and  those  resulting  from  theft,  ver. 
33-xxii.  4.  Then  follow  injuries  done  to  fields 
or  estates  through  carelessness  in  the  use  of  cat- 
tle or  of  fire,  vers.  5  and  6.  Then  the  criminal 
misuse  of  goods  held  in  trust  constitute  a  sepa- 
rate section,  vers.  7-17,  which  we  do  not,  like 
Bortheau,  make  a  subdivision  of  the  division  (c), 
but  must  distinguish  from  it, 

Ver.  28.  First  case.  And  if  an  ex.— The  in- 
stinct of  oxen  to  hook  is  so  general  that  every 
accident  of  this  sort  could  not  be  foreseen  and 
prevented.  Therefore  when  an  ox  has  not  been 
described  to  the  owner  as  properly  a  goring  ox, 
the  owner  is  essentially  innocent.  Yet  for  a 
possible  want  of  carefulness  he  is  punished  by 
the  loss  of  his  animal.  But  the  ox  is  stoned  to 
death.  Legally  it  would  involve  pliysical  un- 
cleanness  to  eat  of  the  flesh.  But  the  stoning 
of  the  ox  does  not  mean  that  the  ox  is  "tainted 
with  capital  crime"  (Keil),  but  that  he  has  be- 
come the  symbol  of  a  homicide,  and  so  the  vic- 
tim of  a  curse  (Q.'^n).  It  is  therefore  an  appli- 
cation of  Gen.  ix.  6  in  a  symbolical  sense,  on 
account  of  the  connection  of  cattle  with  men. 
Comp.  also  Lev.  xx.  15.  Similar  provisions 
among  the  Persians  and  Greeks  vid.  in  Kuobel, 
p.  220. 

Ver.  29.  Second  case.  The  owner  has  been 
cautioned  that  his  ox  is  given  to  hooking.  In 
this  case  he  himself  is  put  to  death  as  well  as 
his  ox.  This  is  the  rule.  But  as  there  may  be 
mitigating  considerations,  especially  in  the  ease 
of  tUe  injured  family;  as  in  general  the  guilt 
was  only  that  of  carelessness,  not  of  evil  inten- 
tion, the  owner  might  save  his  life  by  means  of 
a  ransom  imposed  on  him  by  the  relatives  of  the 
man  that  had  been  killed.  Probably  with  the 
mediation  of  the  judges,  as  in  ver.  22.  Refer- 
ence to  the  Salic  law  made  by  Kuobel.  Ran- 
som.— 133,  covering,  expiation. 

Ver.  3l'.  Third  case.  The  son  or  the  daughter 
of  a  freeman  are  treated  in  the  same  manner  as, 
according  to  the  foregoing,  ho  himself  is  treated. 

Ver.  32.  Fourth  case.  The  ox  gores  a  man- 
servant or  a  maid-servant  to  death.  The  stoning 
of  the  ox  is  still  enjoined,  but  the  owner  in  this 
case  is  not  doomed  to  death.  He  must  pay  the 
master  of  the  slave  30  shekels  of  silver.  "Pro- 
bably the  usu.al  market  price  of  a  slave,  since 
the  ransom  money  of  a  free  Israelite  amounted 
to  50  shekels,  Lev.  xxvii.  3."    (Keil).     On  the 


CHAP.  XXI.  1-XXIII. 


91 


value  of  the  shekel  (7pCf  aUloc)  vid.  Winer, 
Realworterhuch,  p.  4-33  sqq.*  The  result  of  the 
perplexitg  investigation  is  that  its  value  is  25  or 
20  silver  groschen.f  The  shekel  afterwards  used 
for  the  revenue  of  (he  temple  and  of  the  king 
was  difiFereut  from  that  used  in  common  life. 
This  legal  inequality  [between  the  slave  and 
the  freeman]  is  to  be  explained  by  tlie  con- 
sideration that  the  capital  punishment  inflicted 
on  the  owner  formed  an  offset  to  the  revenge 
to  which  otherwise  the  relatives  of  the  mur- 
dered man  might  resort.  But  this  revenge 
for  bloodshed  was  in  no  danger  of  being  exer- 
cised in  the  case  of  a  murdered  slave,  since  he 
was  removed  from  the  circle  of  his  relations. 
The  seemingly  great  difference  in  the  penalty 
amounts  finally  to  this,  that  the  ransom  money 
for  a  free  man  was  60  shekels,  and  that  for  a 
slave  30  shekels.  On  the  estimate  of  the  Attic 
slave,  vid.  Knobel;  but  the  great  difl'erence  in 
the  period  of  time  must  be  taken  into  account. 
"In  the  legal  codes  of  other  ancient  nations 
also  are  found  laws  concerning  tlie  punishment 
of  beasts  tliat  have  killed  or  injured  a  man. 
Comp.  Clericus  and  Knobel  on  this  passage. 
But  no  nation  had  a  law  which  made  the  owner 
of  such  a  beast  responsible,  because  none  of 
them  had  recognized  the  divine  image  in  human 
life"  (Keil).  Tlie  responsibility  of  the  owner 
could  certainly  be  grounded  only  on  tlie  myste- 
rious solidarity  of  the  Hebrew  household  ("  thy 
man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cat- 
tle"), a  unity  which  was  not  taken  into  account 
where  a  more  atomistic  view  of  liberty  prevailed. 

Vers.  33,  34.  Fifth  case.  And  when  a  man 
shall  open  a  pit  (cistern).  Tliis  is  connected 
with  the  foregoing  cases  as  coming  under  the 
head  of  punisUable  carelessness.  The  ox  or  ass 
are  named  as  examples  of  domestic  animals  in 
general.  In  this  case  only  property  is  destroyed; 
and  the  careless  man  has  to  pay  for  it,  but  re- 
ceives the  dead  beast,  of  which  he  could  only 
use  the  skin  and  other  such  parts,  since  the 
flesh  was  unclean. 

Ver.  3-5.  Sixth  case.  A  specially  fine  provision. 
In  the  ox  that  has  killed  another  ox  there  is 
nothing  abominable,  but  yet  a  stain  ;  the  sight 
of  him  is  obnoxious.  He  is  therefore  sold  and 
comes  into  another  place  where  his  fault  is  not 
known.  But  the  two  owners  share  the  price  of 
sale  and  the  dead  animal.  This  is  an  alleviation 
of  a  misfortune  tlial  is  common  to  both  parties. 
Without  doulil  the  dead  ox  also  must  have  hooked. 

Ver.  36.  S^  oenlh  case.  But  here  too  is  to  be 
considered  the  special  circumstance  that  the  ox 
may  have  been  a  notorious  hooker.  In  this  case 
the  owner  must  make  full  compensation  for  the 
loss  with  a  live  ox,  in  return  for  which  he  re- 
ceives the  dead  beast. 

Chap.  xxii.  1-4.  Eighth  case.  The  cattle- 
thief  Five-fold  indemnity  for  the  stolen  ox; 
four-fold  for  the  stolen  sheep  or  goat.  In  the 
case  of  the  five-fold  indemnity  any  kind  of  larix^* 
animal  may  be  delivered  over.  Tbe  differenc' 
of  five-fold  and  four-fold  points  to  the  greatir 


[See  also  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  . 


Weiffhls 


6-21-;;  cents.  Mr.  Poole,  in  the  article 
PS  tfio  s'lver  shekel  =  220  f!r.iias,  i.  c, 
;hillins3  and  2  p.-nce. — i'a.] 


guilt  of  the  greater  theft.  "The  fourfold  re- 
stitution is  also  mentioned  in  2  Sam.  xii.  6:  the 
seven-fold.  Prov.  vi.  31,  is  not  to  be'understood 
literally,  but  only  in  a  general  way  as  manifold" 
(Knobel).  From  the  five-fold  and  four-fold  re- 
stitution is  distinguished  the  two-fold,  which 
is  prescribed  in  case  the  thief  has  not  yet 
slaughtered  or  sold  the  animal,  but  is  able  to 
return  it  alive.  The  reasons  for  this  distinction 
are  difl^erently  given;  vid.  Keil:  also  his  note, 
II.  p.  137.*  In  the  latter  case  the  thief  had  not 
carried  out  his  purpose  to  the  full  extent,  espe- 
cially as  he  has  not  put  the  object  of  his  theft 
out  of  the  way.  The  case  diff'ered  therefore  ma- 
terially from  the  other.  Vid.  Knobel  on  the  Ro- 
man laws.  Others  indicating  the  value  set  oa 
ploughing  oxen,  Knobel.  p.  222. 

Vers.  2,  3.  If  the  thief  be  found  break- 
ing in.— This  is  obviously  an  incidental  interpo- 
lation, which  properly  belongs  to  the  class  (A). 
There  shall  be  no  blood  to  him ;  i.  e.  no 
blood-guiltiness  is  incurred  by  the  homicide; 
vid.  Num.  XXXV.  27;  Dent.  xix.  10;  Job  xxiv.  16. 
One  might  understand  this  chiefly  of  an  attack 
on  the  fold,  since  the  topic  is  the  stealing  of  cat- 
tle; at  all  events  a  nocturnal  irruption  is  meant, 
vid.  ver.  3.  Accordingly  the  watcliman,  or  the 
one  who  is  awaked,  is  in  a  condition  of  defense. 
He  must  protect  his  property,  and  therefore 
fight ;  and  the  thief  is  liable  to"  become  a  robber 
and  murderer.  If  the  sun  be  risen  upon 
him.— It  might  be  thought  that  this  refers  to 
the  early  dawn  or  early  day,  when  he  might  re- 
cognize the  thief,  or  frighten  him  away  unre- 
cognized, or  with  the  help  of  others  capture 
him.  But  inasmuch  as  further  on  it  is  assumed 
that  the  thief  has  really  accomplished  his  theft, 
the  expression  probably  means:  If  some  time 
has  elapsed.  If  in  this  case  the  owner  kills  the 
thief,  he  incurs  blood-guiltiness;  but  on  account 
of  the  great  variety  in  the  cases  the  sentence  of 
death  is  not  here  immediately  pronounced  upon 
him.  Since  the  life  of  the  thief  is  under  the 
protection  of  the  law,  the  case  comes  before  the 
criminal  court,  vid.  xxi.  20.  For  Calvin  on  the 
"  ratio  dispnritatis  inter  Jurem  nocturntim  et  diur- 
num,"  vid.  K^il,  p.  137.  The  real  punishment 
for  the  thief  is  determined  by  the  law  concern- 
ing restitution,  xxii.  1,  3.  But  in  ease  the  thief 
can  restore  nothing,  he  is  sold  for  the  theft,  for 
that  which  is  stolen,  i.  e.  for  the  value  of  it. 
"  This  can  mean  only  a  sale  for  a  period  of  time. 
The  buyer  reckoned  the  restitution  which  the 
thief  was  to  render,  and  used  the  thief  as  a  slave 
until  the  whole  loss  was  made  good"  (Knobel). 
Similar  arrangements  among  the  Romans  vid.  in 
Knobel,  p.  223.  Likewise  laws  concerning 
theft,  p.  224.  The  thief  could  not  be  sild  to  a 
foreigner,  according  to  Josephus,  .4n^  XVI.  1, 1. 

*  f'The  rlifFprencp."  saVR  Keil.  J.  r..  "  cannot  ho  pxplnined 


educational  aim  ■■: 
of  himself,  recogii 
len."— Te.] 


Ver.  5.  A7n/A  case.  A  field  or  a  vineyard 
to  be  fed  upon. — There  are  various  views  of 
this.  (1)  Si  Iseserit  quispiam  agrum  vel  vineam, 
etc.  (Vulg.).  Luther:  "  Whea  any  one  injures  a 
field  or  vineyard,  so  that  he  lets  his  cattle  do 
damage."  (2)  Knobel:  "When  one  pastures  a 
field  or  a  vineyard  by  sending  his  cattle  to  it." 
(3)  Keil :  "When  anyone  pastures  a  ficlil  or  a 
vineyard,  and  lets  his  cattle  loose."  HTO  bears 
either  meaning,  to  send  away,  or  to  let  go  free  ; 
but  according  to  the  connection  only  the  latter 
can  be  meant  here.  The  sense  given  to  it  by 
the  Vulgate  might  accordingly  be  accepted:  he 
injures  the  field  or  vineyard  of  his  neighbor  so 
that  (in  that)  etc.  But  it  is  more  obvious  to  as- 
sume an  incidental  carelessness  to  be  meant.. 
The  beast  feeds  on  his  field  (perhaps  also  on  the 
grass  between  the  grape-viues) ;  from  this  pas- 
ture ground  he  lets  him  pass  over  so  that  he 
does  damage  to  bis  neighbor.  Knobel  even  af- 
firms that  an  intentional  damage  is  meant.  And 
yet  only  a  simple,  though  ample,  indemnity  is  to 
be  rendered  from  the  best  of  his  field  and  of  his 
vineyard.  Keil  rightly  contends  against  Knobel's 
theory.  Talmudic  provisions  on  this  point  are 
found  in  Saalschiitz,  JUosaisches  Recht,  p.  875  sq. 

Ver.  6.  Tenth  case.  This  is  about  a  fire  in  a 
field,  which  might  the  more  readily  sweep  over 
into  the  neighbor's  field,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
likely  to  be  kindled  at  the  edge  of  the  field,  in 
the  thorn-hedge.  Clearly  an  act  of  carelessness 
is  meant;  comp.  Is.  v.  6.  He  that  hath  kin- 
dled the  fire. — The  carelessness  is  imputed  to 
him  as  a  virtual  incendiary,  because  he  did  not 
guard  the  fire. 

d.  Tilings  entrusted  and  lost. 

Ver.'T.  First  case.  The  money  or  articles  or 
stuff  (on  D''75  see  Deut.  xxii.  5)  left  for  safe 
keeping  are  stolen  from  the  keeper,  but  the  thief 
is  discovered.  The  affair  is  settled  by  the  thief 
being  required  to  pay  back  double,  vid.  ver.  4. 

Ver.  8.  Second  ca.se.  The  thief  is  not  disco- 
vered. In  this  case  suspicion  falls  on  the 
keeper;  he  may  have  embezzled  the  property 
entrusted  to  him.  Therefore  such  a  case 
must  come  before  the  court,  which  was  es- 
teemed a  divine  court,  hence  the  expression, 
DTlSsn-'?!*.  The  penalty  ispaidaccordingto  the 
decisiou  of  the  case.  The  man  under  suspicion 
must  approach  unto  God.  Such  an  approach 
produced  an  excitement  of  conscience.  The  true 
high-priest  is  the  one  who  may  approach  unto 
God.  In  case  the  keeper  is  adjudged  guilty,  he 
has  to  pay  double. 

Ver.  9.  The  foregoing  provision  is  designated 
as  an  example  for  a  general  rule.  The  cleansing 
of  the  suspected  man  was  probably  often  effected 
by  an  oath  of  purification.  The  LXX.  and 
Vulgate  interpolate  Kal  b^ieirat,  etjurabit.  In  all 
oases  in  which  the  concealer  made  a  confession, 
an  oath  was  unnecessary.  Also  dishonesty  re- 
specting objects  found  is  placed  under  this  rule. 
On  the  oath  among  the  Arabs  and  Egyptians, 
Bee  Knobel,  p.  225.  Knobel  seems  to  assume 
without  reason  that  the  plaintiff  also  is  meant  in 
the  words,  "whom  God  shall  condemn,"  etc.* 
\  *  [Ttiia  is  a  mistake.    Kuobel  traoslates :  "  If  God  makes 


Vers.  10,  11.  Third  case.  This  is  about  beasts 
put  in  others'  ore,  which  die  in  their  possession, 
or  are  mutilated  in  the  pasture,  or  injure  them- 
selves, or  are  driven  away  by  robbers.  Here 
he  oath  is  positively  required,  in  case  the  guar- 
lian  alone  has  seen  the  thing;  but  it  is  also  de- 
cisive.    On  a  similar  Indian  law  viil.  Knobel. 

Ver.  12.  Fourth  case.  Stolen  from  him. — 
It  is  assumed  that  the  thief  is  not  found. 
"  Here,"  says  Knobel,  "restitution  is  prescribed, 
but  not  in  ver.  8,  because  he  who  has  an  animal 

charge  is  the  guardian  of  it,  whereas  he  who 
has  thiugs  in  charge  cannot  be  regarded  as  ex- 
actly a  watchman."  But  according  to  ver.  9  the 
judges  could  even  adjudge  a  double  restitution, 
while  here  only  simple  restitution  is  spoken  of. 
There  a  complication  was  referred  to,  in  which 
approach  of  the  master  of  the  house- 
hold   to    God    and    the    attitude    of    his    con- 

ence  formed  the  main  ground  for  the  judicial 

sentence.     In  the  case  described  in  vers.  10  and 

he  oath  determines  the  main  decision  ;  in  the 

present  case  the  simple  restitution  is  prescribed 

pon  the  simple  declaration  :   "  stolen." 

Ver.  13.  Fifth  case.  The  production  of  the 
animal  torn  by  a  beast  of  prey  (not,  ''or  a  part 
)f  it,"  as  Keil  says)  proved  not  only  the  fact 
tself,  but  also  that  the  guardian  had  watched, 
md  had  driven  off  the  beast  of  prey  by  a  violent 
exertion.  From  this  we  see  the  severity  of  La- 
ban  who,  according  to  Gen.  xxxi.  39,  required 
his  son-in-law  in  such  cases  to  make  the  loss 
good.  Comp.  1  Sam.  xvii.  34,  Amos  iii.  12.  On 
the  Indian  law,  vid.   Knobel,  p.  2.i7. 

Ver.  14.  Sixth  case.  A  hired  beast  is  injured, 
or  dies,  when  the  owner  is  not  present.  The 
sentence  requires  restitution,  because  neglect 
may  be  presumed. 

Ver.  15.  Seventh  case.  The  owner  is  present 
when  the  accident  occurs.  In  that  case  it  be- 
longed especially  to  himself  to  prevent  the  acci- 
dent, if  prevention  was  possible. 

Eighth  case.  The  borrower  is  in  the  hired 
service  of  the  owner  of  the  beast.  In  this  case 
he  gets  the  dead  beast  instead  of  his  pay  ;  it  is 
subtracted  from  his  pay.  For  the  owner  as  a 
hired  laborer  would  have  had  to  do  only  with 
himself;  and  a  hired  servant  with  a  hired  beast 
cannot  be  meant.  It  is  therefore  a  day-laborer 
to  whom  the  anim.al  of  the  owner  has  been  en- 
trusted. T3ty  can  hardly  (with  Stier  and  Keil) 
be  referred  to  the  hired  beast.  Knobel  has  a 
forced  explanation,  in  which  the  hired  servant 
becomes  the  one  who  lets  the  beast.* 


(one)  a  malefju 


if  lie,  ev'i)  lliuu  Ji  111"  •■  ini|.l.iiiit  was  uugrouuded,liail  yet 
takeu  nothing  li^i.i  llu- ..th.r  ? '■— Tr.] 

"  fThe  m.jmity  of  iiitorpretora  (like  the  A.  V.)  regard 
■^Ot7  as  retlTiiog  to  tiie  bi-ast,  nut  the  l>orrower.  Kuobel 
explains  thus  ;  "  If  the  bea'^t  waa  not  merel,v  lent  out  of  kind- 
ness, but  let  for  pay,  tbe  loss  comes  upon  the  hire  by  the  re- 
ceipt of  whicb  tbe  owner  is  paid.  In  fixing  the  hire  he  had 
r-t'ard  to  tbe  danger  of  tlio  loss,  and,  when  tbe  Pms  takes 
place,  must  content  himself  with  the  hire."  So  Keil.  The 
explanation  of  Knob.l's  above  referred  to  by  Lange,  is  a 
second  one,  evidently  not  preferred  by  Kuobel,  but  merely 
stated  as  possible,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  TJt? 
everywhere  else  is  used  of  men. — Tr] 


CHAP.  XX.  1— XXIII. 


93 


Ver.  IG.  Ninth  case.  The  seducer  of  an  unbe 
trolhed  virgin  (the  case  is  different  with  the 
seduction  of  a  betrothed  one  (Deut.  xxii.  23), 
who  has  entrusted  to  him  the  wealth  of  her  vir- 
ginity, valuable  not  only  in  a  moral,  but  in  a 
civil  point  of  view,  must  make  restitution  to  her 
by  marrying  her,  and  to  her  father  by  giving  a 
dowry. 

Ver.  17.  Tenth  case.  The  seducer  himself  can- 
not refuse  the  settlement;  but  the  father  of  the 
seduced  maiden  may  have  reasons  for  refusing 
it.  In  this  case  the  seducer  must  pay  him  the 
dowry  (vid.  Gen.  xxxiv.  12),  with  which  she  is, 
in  a  sort,  reinstated  as  a  virgin,  and  as  after- 
wards a  leg:tlty  divorced  woman.  The  cas-e  is 
not  differently  provided  for  in  Deut.  xxii.  28,  as 
Kuobel  affirms.  There  only  the  price  of  sale  is 
fixed,  viz.,  at  60  shekels;  Ihe  right  of  the  father 
to  refuse  his  daughter  to  the  seducer  is  simply 
not  repeated.  The  dowry  was  not  properly  a 
price  of  sale. 

"  The  precepts  in  ver.  18  and  onwards,"  says 
Keil,  "  differ  in  form  and  contents  from  the  fore- 
going laws;  in  form, by  the  omission  of '3  [when], 
with  which  the  foregoing  are  almost  without  ex- 
ception introduced;  in  substance,  by  the  fact 
that  they  impose  on  the  Israelites,  on  Ihe  ground 
of  their  election  to  be  the  holy  people  of  .leho- 
Tah,  requirements  which  transcend  Ihe  sphere  of 
natural  law."  Yet  the  two  divisions  are  not  to 
be  distinguished  as  natural  and  supernatural. 
But  Keil  has  correctly  found  a  new  section  here, 
whilst  Knobel  begins  a  new  section,  poorly  de- 
fined, with  ver.  16. 
e.  Unnatural  Crimes.  Abominations  committed 
against  Religion  and  Humanity. 

Ver.  18.  First  offence.  The  sorceress  is  con- 
demned to  death.  This  term  is  not  to  be  made 
synonymous  with  witch,  as  Knobel  makes  it. 
The  mediaeval  witch  may  practice,  or  wish  to 
practice,  sorcery  ;  but  she  may  also  be  a  calum- 
niated woman.  She  gets  her  name  from  Ihe 
popular  conception,  whereas  the  sorceress  gets 
her  name  from  the  real  practice  of  a  lying,  dark 
art.  She  operates  on  the  assumption  that  demo- 
niacal powers  co-operate  with  her,  and  so  she 
promotes  radical  irreligion.  She  injures  her 
neighbor  in  body  and  life,  as  being  the  instru- 
ment of  hostile  passions,  which  she  nourishes; 
or,  when  she  enters  into  the  mood  of  the  ques- 
tioner, she  nourishes  ruinous  hopes  (Macbeth) 
or  despair  (the  soothsayer  of  Endor),  and  often 
from  being  a  mixer  of  herbs  becomes  a  mixer  of 
poisons  (Gesina).  "The  sorceress  is  mimed  in- 
stead of  the  sorcerer,  as  Calovius  says,  not  be- 
cause the  same  thing  is  not  puni.ihahle  in  men, 
but  because  the  female  sex  is  more  addicted  to 
this  crime"  (Keil).  According  to  Knobel  the 
expression,  "not  suffer  to  live,"  intimates  thai 
perhaps  a  foreign  sorceress  might  be  punished 
with  banishment;  but  Keil  supposes  that  she 
may  have  been  allowed  to  live,  if  she  gave  up 
her  occupation.  Sorcery  was  connected  not  only 
with  simple  idolatry,  but  in  many  ways  with  the 
worship  of  demons,  and  the  sorceress  was  re- 
garded as  seducing  to  such  things. 

Ver.  10.  Second  offence.  Sexual  intercourse 
with  a  beast.  Comp.  Lev.  xviii.  23;  xx.  15;  Deut. 
xxvii.  21.     This  unnatural  thing  also  was  pun- 


ished with  death,  like  the  kindred  one  of  sodomy, 
a  prominent  vice  of  the  Cauaauites,  Lev.  xx.  13. 

Ver.  20.  Third  offence.  Idolatry.  Keils  expla- 
nation, "  Israel  must  not  sacrifice  to  foreign  gods, 
but  must  not  only  tolerate  foreigners  in  the  midst 
of  them,"  etc.,  almost  seems  intended  to  intimate 
that  the  heathen  in  Israel  had  an  edict  of  tole- 
rance for  their  offerings.  Opposed  to  this  con- 
ception is  tne  Sabbath  law,  and  the  ordinance  in 
xxiii.  24.  In  both  cases,  however,  the  explana- 
tion is  that  a  public  worship  of  strange  gods  was 
not  tolerated  in  Israel ;  but  an  inquisition  to  ferret 
out  such  worship  secretly  carried  on  is  not  coun- 
tenanced by  the  Mosaic  law.  The  words  are: 
"  whosoever  »ucr(A'cefA  unto  any  god."  The  ad- 
dition, '-save  unto  Jehovah  ouly"  (as  likewise 
XX.  24),  is  a  mild  expression  also  as  regards  the 
theocratic  offerings,  and  also  secures  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  the  word  "Elohim." — lie  is  to 
be  devoted,  i.  e.,  to  the  judgment  of  Juhovah 
sentencing  him  to  death.  Here  the  notion  of 
D'ln  (hherem,  ban)  comes  out  distinctly.  Every 
capital  punishment  was  essentially  a  hherem;  but 
here  is  found  the  root  of  Ihe  notion  :  an  idolater 
by  his  offering  has  withdrawn  from  Jehovah  the 
offering  due  to  Him  alone ;  he  has,  so  to  speak,  re- 
moved the  offeringaway  from  the  true  divine  idea, 
and  perverted  it  into  its  opposite.  "  He  is  to  be 
devoted  by  death  to  the  Lord,  to  whom  in  life 
he  would  not  devote  himself"  (Keil).  It  may 
be  that  a  sort  of  irony  lies  in  the  notion  of  the 
hherem;  as  being  coiiscovation  reversed,  it  se- 
cures to  God  Ihe  glory  li  l-n-ini;  lu  Him  alone; 
but  it  does  this  also  as  Inni;  r.ii-c  ci  iiiion  to  the 
judging    God    in    His    jiii-inmi.      '-No    living 

Ihintr,     -:,>-   Ki:-J"l.  •■>l.v d  to  Jehovah  could 

be  n   i  i ,  ,  I  1 II  Im'  (irstroyed.  Lev.  xxvii. 

28  si|.  :    '    ^  I'mi  only  when  it  was  a 

Ver.  21.  Fourth  offence.  A  beautiful  contrast 
to  Ihe  foregoing  is  formed  by  the  statement  of 
offences  against  humanity.  MallrealnienI  of  the 
foreigner  is  put  first  of  all.  He  must  not  be 
wronged,  "for  ye  were  strangers,"  etc.  A  moral 
principle  which  reappears  in  the  N.  T.  (Matt, 
vii.  12),  as  also  in  Kant.  The  particular  rules 
concerning  the  treatment  of  aliens  are  given  by 
Knobel.  p.  228.  wlio  also  gives  ihe  appropriate 
references  to  Michaelis  and  Saalsehutz.  Vid. 
iii.  9,  Deut.  xxvi.  7.  Knobel  says,  "The  per- 
sons meant  are  the  Canaaniiish  and  non-Ca- 
naanitish  strangers  who  slaid  as  indiviiluals 
among  the  Israelites;  the  Canaaniles  ns  a  whole 
are,  according  to  this  lawgiver  also,  to  be  extir- 
pated {vid.  xxiii.  33)."  It  belongs  to  Ihe  defini- 
lion  of  the  "stranger,"  that  he  is  dissociated 
from  his  own  nationality,  and  has  become  sub- 
ject to  another,  i.  e.  here,  to  the  nHlional  laws 
of  Ihe  Israelites.  The  failure  to  affix  a  penalty 
to  this  law  implies  that  Ihe  noble  emotion  of  gra- 
titude was  probably  depended  on  to  secure  its  ful- 
filment. 

Vers.  22  24.  Fifth  offence.  Against  widows 
and  orphans.  On  this  point  see  Knobel's  collec- 
tion of  the  various  passages,  p.  229.  God  takes 
the  place  of  the  deceased  fathers  and  husbands 
by  His  special  protection;  whence  follows  ihat 
they  on  their  part  when  living  are  to  exercise  a 
divine  protection  in   the   house   over  wife  and 


cliilJren.  And  because,  through  the  selfishness 
of  the  strong,  widows  and  orphans  were  so  liable 
to  be  oppressed,  being  easily  despoiled  on  ac- 
count of  their  impotence,  chief  prominence  is 
given  to  the  significance  of  their  crying.  This 
need  not  always  be  a  conscious  prayer  uttered  in 
one's  extremiiy,  for  crying,  on  the  part  of  living 
things  and  before  God,  has  a  special  meaning,  even 
down  to  the  crying  of  the  young  ravens.  The 
threatened  punishment,  in  the  first  place,  is  con- 
nected with  tlie  guilt,  and  in  the  second  place 
corresponds  witli  it.  Despotism  begins  with  the 
oppression  of  the  weali  (widows  and  orphans), 
and  reaches  its  consummation  in  unrighteous 
wars  and  military  catastrophes,  out  of  which 
again  widows  and  orphans  are  made.  Vid.  Isa. 
ix   17. 

Ver.  25.  Sixth  offmce.  Prohibition  of  usury, 
by  which  the  exigency  of  the  poor  is  abused. 
Lev.  XXV.  36.  Two  grounds:  the  poor  man  be- 
longs to  the  people  of  God  as  a  free  man,  and 
has  lost  his  freedom  through  his  troubles.  By 
usury  he  is  burdened. 

Vers.  213,  27.  Seventh  offence.  Excessive  taking 
of  p;iwn.  The  lender  may  require  a  pledge  of 
the  creditor,  but  his  covering  (outer  garment)  he 
must  return  to  him  before  sunset,  lest  he  sutfer 
from  the  nocturnal  cold.  The  mantle  marks  the 
extreme  of  poverty  in  general,  viJ.  Deut.  xxiv. 
6sqq.  The  compassion  which  Jehovah  here  pro- 
mises to  the  helpless  ones  that  cry  has  an  ob- 
verse side  for  the  pitiless.  The  expression  in 
ver.  27  becomes  even  a  rhetorical  plea  for  the 
poor.  Matt.  V.  7,  James  ii.  13.  "The  indigent 
Oriental  covers  himself  at  night  in  his  outer  gar- 
ment. Shaw,  Travels,  p.  224,  Niebuhr,  Arahien, 
p.  64"  (Knobel).  On  the  pawning  of  clothes. 
Bee  Amos  ii.  8,  Job  xxii.  6,  Prov.  xx.  16,  xxviL  13. 

Ver.  28.  Eighth  offence.  Contempt  of  the  Deity 
and  of  princely  magistrates.  Keil  says,  "Elo- 
him  means  neither  the  gods  of  the  other  nations, 
as  Josephus  {Avt.  IV.  8,  10,  contra  Apionem  II. 
33),  Philo  (vita  Mos.  III.  864)  and  others  explain 
the  word  in  their  dead  and  Pharisaic  monothe- 
ism; nor  the  magistrates,  as  Onkelos,  Jonathan, 
Aben  Ezra  and  others  think;  but  God,  the  Deity 
in  general,  whose  majesty  is  despised  in  every 
transgression  of  Jehovah's  commands,  and  should 
be  honored  in  the  person  of  the  prince.  Comp. 
Prov.  xxiv.  21 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  17,"  etc.  So  Knobel. 
This  explanation  is  certainly  favored  by  the  con- 
text, particularly  the  following;  especially  also 
by  the  fact  that  the  prince  (the  exalted,  the  high 
one)  is  mentioned  next  to  God.  Yet  this  is  to  be 
observed  in  the  line  of  Josephus  ami  Philo's 
opinion,  tlial  tlie  theocracy  does  not,  reject  the 
divine  element  in  the  religions  themselves,  but 
the  false  ideal  images  of  the  gods  (Elilim),  and 
the  actual  idols,  and  that  even  in  this  sphere 
there  are  reservations  in  reference  to  Satan 
(Epistle  of  Jude).  There  are  two  reasons  for  it : 
first,  the  element  of  truth  which  underlies  the 
errors;  secondly,  the  moral  injury  of  the  reli- 
gious feelings  of  the  neighbor  who  is  in  error. 
We  prefer  to  render,  "  the  Deity;"  at  all  events 
the  reviling  of  the  Deity,  which  may  have  many 
degrees,  is  sharply  distinguished  from  the  posi- 
tive reviling  of  Jeliovah  (Lev.  xxiv.  15,  16).  The 
world  of  lo-ilay  would  perhaps  invert  the  order 
of  guilt  in   this  relation.     Luther's  translation 


transposes  the  meanings  of  the  verbs  ["/)«n  6roN 

tern  ....  nicht  fiuchen,  und  den  Obersten  .  .  . 
nichl  liislern"  "  not  curse  the  gods,  and  not  rer 
vile  the  magistrates"].  The  princes  are  under 
God  as  His  vicegerents.  Passages  relative  to  the 
defamation  of  princes  are  given  by  Knobel.  The 
word  77p  comprehends  all  forms  of  evil-speaking 
of  God. 

Vers.  29,  30.  Ninth  offence.  Holding  back  of  the 
natural  products  due  to  the  sanctuary.  "DSiD 
means  the  produce  of  grain  (Deut.  xxii.  9),  and 
the  word  i'?7.'  which  occurs  only  here,  properly 
■tear,'  something  flowing,  liquor  stillans,  is  a 
poetic  designation  of  the  produce  of  the  wine- 
vat,  the  wine  and  the  oil,  comp.  SaKpvov  tuv  6ev- 
Spuv.  Theoph.:  arbonan  lacri/mse;  Pliny  XI.  6." 
(Keil.)  Fii/.  xxiii.  19;  Deut.  xxvi.  2-11;  Num. 
xviii.  12.  These  gifts  to  the  temple  retained 
their  festul  character  and  their  value  only  as  they 
were  freely  and  joyfully  presented.  The  first- 
born of  thy  sons. — Repetition  of  the  precept 
to  sanctify  the  first-born  to  Jehovah,  xiii.  2,  12. 
In  the  passage  before  us,  however,  the  precept 
is  put  under  the  point  of  view  of  the  civil  com- 
monwealth. This  needs  religious  institutions  in 
order  to  its  perpetuity.  Knobel  attempts  in  vain 
to  make  out  a  difi'erence  between  this  passage 
and  others  which  prescribe  the  redemption  of  the 
first  born.  A  week  of  existence  with  the  dam 
must  also  be  secured  to  the  sacrificial  victims 
taken  from  the  cattle  and  from  the  sheep  or 
goats. 

Ver.  31.  Tenth  offence.  Use  of  unclean  meat. 
As  men  of  holiness  consecrated  to  the  sanctuary, 
they  must  refrain  from  the  use  of  unclean  meat, 
especially  of  that  which  is  torn  of  beasts.  The 
carcass  is  to  be  given  to  the  dogs,  whose  charac- 
teristic here  appears.  Comp.  xix.  6;  Lev.  xvii.  15. 

/.  Legal  Proceedings. 

Chap,  xxiii.  1.  First  precept.  Against  rashness 
in  cherishing  and  uttering  suspicions.  Comp. 
Lev.  xix.  10;  Deut.  xxii.  13  sqq,  FiV.  the  refer- 
ences to  Michaelis  and  Saalscbiitz  in  Knobel. 

Second  precept.  No  one  shall  allow  himself  to 
be  misled  by  wicked  men  into  the  utterance  of 
false  witness. 

Ver.  2.  Third  precept.  Base  compliance  with 
the  judgment  of  the  multitude. 

Ver.  3.  Fourth  precept.  Not  to  favor  the  poor 
man  in  his  suit.  Affectation  in  sympathy  with 
the  lowly.  The  error  of  many  modern  minds. 
Against  Knobel's  conjecture,  vid.  Keil.* 

Ver.  4.  Fifth  precept.  To  keep  even  an  enemy 
from  suffering  loss.  One's  enemy  is  in  this  case 
a  brother,  according  to  Deut.  xxii.  1.  Neglect 
of  this  duty  is  positive  and  culpable  violation 
of  law. 

Ver.  5.  Sixth  precept.  It  is  still  harder  to  la- 
bor in  company  with  the  enemy  (the  hater),  in 


*  [Knobel's  conjecture  19  that  instead  of  '711  ("  and  a  poor 
man")  we  should  read  h^i  ("  a  great  man  ")— since  in  Lev. 
xix.  15  it  i.'i  the  "  mighty  "  who  is  not  to  be  *'  honored,"  and 
partiality  to  the  poor  "  was  not  to  bo  anticipated,  and  needed 
not  to  be  forl>iHHen."  Keil  replies  that  this  issiifflrientlyan- 
Bwerpd  by  the  fict  that  the  same  passaee  his  a  command  not 
to  "  respect  the  person  of  the  poor."— Ta.J 


CHAP.  XX.  1— XXIII. 


order  to  help  liim  in  his  extremity.  In  this  case 
the  inclination  to  avoid  the  enemy  must  be  over- 
come. On  the  pun  see  Gesenius  under  3J).'- 
Comp.  Bcrtheiu,  p.  41.  The  neglect  of  this  dif- 
ficult self-denial  also  comes  into  the  category  of 
violation  of  law. 

Ver.  6.  Secenlh  precept.  Of  thy  poor. — The 
poor  must  be  the  protegS  of  the  rich.  But  the 
temptations  to  violate  his  rights,  to  pervert  it 
this  way  and  that,  is  strong,  since  he  is  defence- 
less. Hence  Moses  puts  him  specially  under  the 
protection  of  the  law.  Comp.  Deut.  sxvii.  19;  1 
Sara.  viii.  3;  Lam.  iii.  .35. 

Ver.  7.  Eighth  precept.  This  looks  like  the 
first.  But  there  the  subject  is  false  testimony— 
here,  the  false  judge;  because  his  conduct  may 
possibly  bring  death  to  the  innocent  man.  Here, 
therefore,  judicial  murder  is  specifically  treated 
of,  with  the  declaration  that  God  will  not  acquit 
the  wickeil  one,  i.e.,  will  judge  him;  and  the 
wicked  judge  is  probably  meant.  Bertheau,  di- 
viding this  one  precept  into  two,  fails  to  make 
out  the  tenth — wherefore  Keil  is  led  to  pro- 
nounce his  hypothesis  of  decades  to  be  arbitrary 
throughout. 

Ver.  8.  Ninth  precept.  Prohibition  of  the 
taking  of  presents  in  law-suits.  Out  of  such 
presents  corruption  grows.  They  pervert  the 
cause  of  the  righteous — make  right  wrong. 

Ver.  9.  Tenth  precept.  This  is  not  identical 
■with  the  general  precept  in  xxii.  21,  since  here 
the  question  is  about  law-suits.  It  should  be 
considered  especially  in  courts  of  law  how  a 
stranger  feels.  He  is  timid,  faint-hearted,  and 
readily  surrenders  a  part  or  the  whole  of  his  just 
claim  before  the  mighty  judge.  Israel  is  to  learn 
this  from  his  experience   in  Egypt.      Vid.  Deut. 


ff.    Ordinances     concerning  Feast-days  and  Days 
of  Rest. 

Vers.  10,  11.  First  ordinance.  The  land  must 
rest  the  seventh  year.  It  is  the  Sabbath  of  the 
years,  the  continuation  of  the  Sabbath  of  the 
months,  as  of  the  Sabbath  of  the  days,  while  they 
all  look  back  to  the  Sabbath  of  Gods  creation, 
and  look  forward  to  the  Sabbath  of  the  genera- 
tion, the  great  year  of  jubilee,  the  type  of  the 
future  foundation  and  completion  of  the  Sabbath 
by  Christ.  The  civil  side  of  the  religious  ordi- 
nances here  made  should  not  be  overlooked,  as 
is  done  by  Keil  and  Knobel.  In  Lev.  xxv.  the 
ordinance  bears  a  predominantly  religious  as- 
pect. What  the  land  produces  of  itself,  without 
culture,  belongs  to  all  as  a  common  possession  to 
be  freely  enjoyed;  likewise  to  the  stranger  and 
to  the  cattle,  and  even  to  the  wild  beasts.  Thus 
this  festal  year  forms  a  reflex  of  Paradise.  And 
if  this  festal  year  in  point  of  fact  was  poorly  ob- 
served in  Israel,  critics  may  well  infer  that  this 
law  was  written  long  before  the  time  of  the  later 
national  life  of  the  Israelites.  In  its  ideal  sign' 
ficance,  however,  it  belongs  to  all  times :  not  only 
the  field,  but  also  the  forest,  the  river,  and  the 
mine,  may  be  spnileil  by  unintermittent  labor 

Vers.  12,  l:l  Second  ordinance.     Jlan  and  beast 
must  rest  on  the  seventh  day.     The  humane 
ject  of  the  Sabbath  in  its  civil  aspect  comes  out 
prominently  in  the  text.     Mention  is  first  made 
10 


even  of  the  rest  needed  by  the  ox  and  the  ass,  then 
of  the  band-maid's  son,  ).  e.,  the  one  born  a 
slave,  and  the  stranger;  they  must  on  the  Sab- 
bath have  a  breathing-spell,  as  the  verb  properly 
means.  Ver.  1.3  enjoins  the  proper  celebration 
for  this  sacred  list  of  feast-days,  strictly  ex- 
eluding  the  names  of  all  heathen  deities,  and 
containing  a  suggestion  for  the  revision  of  the 
Christian  calendar  in  view  of  the  medieval  deifi- 
)ns.  Says  Knobel:  "The  most  important 
point  is  the  exclusive  adoration  of  Jehovah.  The 
Hebrew  is  not  even  to  mention — ;.  e.,  utter — the 


of  another  god;    not 


take 


his 


still  less  recognize  or  reverence  such  a, 
god.  So,  too,  the  strict  worshippers  of  Jehovah 
did  (Ps  xvi.4;  Hos.  ii.  17;  Zech.  xiii.  2).  Ac- 
cordingly the  Hebrew  was  to  swear  only  by  Je- 
hovah (Deut.  vi.  13 ;  X.  20;  Jer.  xii.  16).  So 
the  Phenician  could  not  swear  opicot'f  ievimv^ 
(Josephus  c.  Apionem  I.  22)."  But  we  must  dis- 
tinguish between  the  proper  meaning  of  this 
command  and  the  superstitious  Jewish  interpre- 
tation of  it,  which  has  even  imposed  a  penalty 
on  the  utterance  of  the  name  of  Jehovah.  The 
so-called  "killing  by  silence"  [Todtschtveiyen], 
generally  a  sin,  has  therefore  here,  too,  its  mo- 
ral side. 

Ver.  14.  Third  ordinance.  Three  annual  festi- 
vals are  to  be  celebrated  in  accordance  with  the 
wants  of  God's  people  in  their  civil  capacity.  At 
the  head  stands  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  as 
the  festival  of  freedom;  then  follow  the  two  prin- 
cipal harvest  festivals,  of  which  the  second  at 
the  same  time  marks  the  close  of  the  year  with 
reference  to  the  notion  of  the  civil  year.  Vid. 
xxxiv.  23;  Deut.  xvi.  10;  2  Chr.  viii.  13.  "Other- 
wise," says  Knobel,  "the  Elohist,  on  which 
point  see  Lev.  xxiii."  But  it  must  be  observed 
that  there  the  festivals  are  spoken  of  in  their  re- 
lation to  religion  and  religious  rites.  Therefore, 
at  that  place  special  prominence  is  given  to  the 
Passover  and  the  day  of  atonement.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  three  festivals,  however,  was,  for  the 
most  part,  prophetic,  since  in  the  wilderness 
there  could  be  no  harvesting,  nor  even  sacrifices, 
vid.  Lev.  xxiii.  10. 

Ver.  15.  Fourth  ordinance.  The  feast  of  un- 
leavened bread  as  the  birth-day  festival  of  the 
people  and  of  their  freedom;  whereas  the  Pass- 
over stands  at  the  head  of  their  religious  ofi'er- 
ings,  vid.  xii.  40  sqq.  On  Hitzig's  view  in  his 
"Ostern  und  Pfinysten"  vid.  Knobel,*  p.  233; 
Berthean,  p.  57.— "Not  empty,"  i.e.,  not  with 
empty  hands,  but  with  sacrificial  gifts.  Even 
the"  general  festival  offerings  had  to  come  from 
the  sacrificial  gifts  of  the  people— a  fact  which 
Knobel  seems  to  overlook;  to  these  were  added 
the  peace-offerings  made  by  individuals.  So  the 
Oriental  never  came  before  his  king  without  pre- 
sents; vid.  the  citations  from  ^lian  and  Paulsen 
in  Keil.     The  offering  is  the  surplus  of  the  gaia 

*  [Hitzig  I.  c.  holds  tbat  3"3Xn  C^'ljl  menns  the  nea 
moon  of  the  month  of  green  cars— to  wiiich  Knobel  replies 
that  in  that  case  the  phrase  "  time  appointed"  would  bo  so- 
perfluous ;  that  the  Hebrew  expression,  if  ^ip  means  "  new 
moon,"  wonld  have  to  bo  reftdered  "new  moon  of  the  green 
ears  "—a  very  improbable  translation  ;  and  that  accorduig  to 
Lev.  xxiii.  6  'the  festival  was  to  begin  on  the  fifteenth  day 


which  (loJ  has  blesseJ,  and  by  the  effort  to  se- 
cure this  surplus  a  barrier  is  built  against  want 
in  civil  life.  While  the  offerings  serve  to  main- 
tain Ihe  religious  rites,  they  also  serve  indirecily 
to  maintain  the  common  <veal.  The  same  holds 
of  the  true  church  and  of  its  wants. 

Ver.  16.  Fifth  ordinance.  The  feast  of  har- 
vest.— Here  named  for  the  first  lime,  as  also  Ihe 
third  feast,  vid.  Lev.  xxiii.  15:  Num.  xxviii.  26. 
Also  called  the  feast  of  weeks,  because  it  was 
celebrated  seven  weeks  after  the  feast  of  unlea- 
vened bread;  or  the  feast  of  the  first  fruits  of  the 
■wheat-harvest,  because  the  loaves  offered  as 
first-fruifs  at  that  time  were  to  be  made  of  wheat 
fl')ur,  xxxiv.  21.  On  the  Pentecost,  see  the 
lexicons. 

Sixth  ordinance.— The  feast  Of  ingathering. 
— Gatheriiis  or  plucking  characterizes  this  har- 
vest; the  fruit -harvest  and  vintage.  Further 
particulars,  as  that  it  is  to  be  held  on  the  15th 
day  of  the  7th  month,  seven  days  like  that  of 
unleavened  bread,  a  feast  of  rich  abundance  in 
contrast  with  that  of  great  privation,  see  in  Lev. 
xxiii.  34,  Num.  xxix.  12,  Winer.  Reabcorterhnch. 
Art.  lauhhiittenfest.  [Smith's  Bible  Dictionary, 
Art.  T.ibernaclrs,  Feast  of].  In  the  end  of  the 
year. — Knobel.  on  account  of  this  passage,  as- 
sumes that  Ihe  Hebrews  had  two  new-years,  the 
one  in  autumn,  when  the  agricultural  season  of 
the  year  ended  with  the  harvesting  of  the  fruits, 
and  Ihe  following  one,  beginning  with  the 
ploughing  and  sowing  of  the  fields.  The  for- 
mer, he  says,  seems  to  have  been  the  usual  mode 
of  reckoning  in  the  East ;  and  he  cites  many 
proofs,  p.  235.  His  view  that  this  is  a  contra- 
diction of  the  Elohist,  who  puts  the  beginning  of 
the  year  in  the  spring  (xii.  2),  is  not  perspicu- 
ous ;  neither,  on  the  other  hand,  is  Keil's— that 
reference  is  here  made  only  to  the  agricultural 
year,  by  which  he  must  mean  the  natural  soa- 
pons,  li.  p.  148.  We  find  here  a  new  proof  Ihal 
the  Mosaic  law  distinguishes  the  civil  from  Ihe 
religious  ordinances.  But  because  the  civil  is 
Bubordinate  to  the  religious,  the  determinative 
regulation  proceeds  from  the  feast  of  Passover, 
as  is  seen  especially  from  Num.  xxix.  12.  That 
in  Lev.  xxiii.  34  the  date  is  religious,  is  self-evi- 
dent. 

Ver.  17.  Seventh  ordinance.  Three  times  in 
the  year;  i.  e.  of  course  at  the  three  .above- 
mentioned  feasts.  The  place  where  the  Israel- 
ites are  to  appear  before  Jehovah,  ;'.  e.  in  the 
place  where  He  reveals  Himself,  is  not  yet  fixed, 
an  omissinn  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  were 
still  wandering.  That  only  the  males  are  held 
obliged  to  do  this,  shows  the  civil  side  of  this 
legislation.  lOt  for  13T,  thy  males.  "Proba- 
bly," says  Keil,  "from  the  twentieth  year  and 
upwards,  those  who  were  included  in  the  census. 
Num.  i.  3.  But  this  does  not  prohibit  the  ad- 
mission of  the  women  (comp.  1  Sam.  i.  3  sqq.) 
and  boys  (Luke  ii.  41  sqq.)."  More  exactly: 
by  the  side  of  the  civil  ordinance  the  religious 
custom  was  developed  in  a  natural  way.  Kno- 
bel thinks  he  finds  here  another  discrepancy,  p. 
235. 

Ver.  18.  Eif/hth  ordinance.  Not  offer  with 
leavened  bread. — The  duty  of  keeping  sacred 
tilings  pure  is  enjoined  especially  by  references 


to  the  feast  of  the  Passover.  The  connection  of 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  with  the  Passover 
is  here  assumed.  Backwards  and  forwards  the 
paschal  feast  is  to  he  kept  pure  in  view  of  Ihe  fact 
that  the  blood  of  the  oB'ering  ((.  e.  of  the  offering 
emphatically  so  called,  the  Passover  offering) 
belongs  to  Jehovah,  that  therefore  the  surrender 
must  be  unmixed.  In  reference  to  the  past, 
therefore,  everything  leavened  must  be  removed 
(xii.  15,  20).  In  reference  to  the  future,  the 
fatty  parts  of  the  paschal  offering,  which  also 
belong  to  Jehovah,  must  not  remain  over  night, 
and  so  serve  for  ordinary  food.  They  must 
therefore  be  burned  in  the  night.  That  cannot 
mean,  as  Knobel  understands  it,  thai  Ihe  fatty 
pieces  are  to  be  at  the  outset  separated  from  the 
paschal  lamb,  as  was  done  with  other  offerings, 
since  Ihe  lamb  was  to  remain  whole;  but  it  was 
natural  that  the  fatty  parts  would  be  for  the  most 
part  left  over;  and  then  they  were  to  be  burned 
with  the  other  things  left  over.  Thus  these 
fatty  remains,  which,  however,  were  not  burnt 
on  the  altar,  became  a  type  of  the  fatty  pieces 
which  were  from  the  first  designed  for  Ihe  altar. 
So  then  this  regulation  is  made  to  refer  to  the 
more  detailed  laws  of  the  festivals  as  found  in 
Lev.  ii.  11,  etc.  As  the  Passover  was  to  be  con- 
trasted with  the  ordinary  mode  of  life,  so  also 
with  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  The  three 
stages  are  :  (1)  the  old  life  (leaven)  ;  (2)  Ihe  of- 
fering of  life  (Passover);  (3)  the  beginning  of 
the  new  life  (unleavened  bread). 

Ver.  19.  Ninth  ordinance.  Precept  in  refer- 
ence chiefly  to  the  feast  of  weeks,  or  the  first  feast 
of  harvest,  but  with  a  more  general  significance. 
"The  Pentecostal  loaves  (Lev.  xxiii.  17)  are 
meant,"  says  Knobel.  Keil  with  reason  under- 
stands the  precept  of  a  bringing  of  firstlings  in 
general,  vid.  Num.  xviii.  12,  Dt.  xxvi.  2  sqq.  "  The 
sheaf  of  barley  which  was  to  be  offered  on  the 
second  d,ay  of  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  (Lev. 
xxiii.  10)  belongs  lo  Ihe  same"  [Keil].  It  may 
be  asked  how  the  expression  'll^STI'iyNT  is  to 
be  understood  ;  whether,  according  to  the  LXX., 
followed  by  Keil,  as  ihe  first  of  the  first  fruits, 
the  first  gathering  of  the  first  fruits;  or,  accord- 
ing to  Aben  Ezra  and  others,  including  Knobel 
(p.  236),  as  the  best,  the  choicest,  of  Ihe  first 
fruits.  Inasmuch  as  not  the  very  first  that  came 
to  hand  was  also  the  best,  the  latter  explanation 
is  to  be  t.aken  as  a  more  precise  sl:ilement  of  Ihe 
other:  Ihe  first,  provided  it  was  the  best,  or  the 
first-fruits,  properly  so  called  (for  not  even  every 
first-born  beast  was  a  true  firstling).  The  chro- 
nological element  in  the  term  "first,"  however, 
takes  precedence,  and  forbids  every  delay  and 
sequestration,  according  to  xxii.  29.  The  mean- 
ing of  these  offerings  is  seen  from  the  liturgical 
forms  prescribed  for  them  in  Deut.  xxvi.  3  sqq., 
13  sqq.  Everythingisagift  from  Jehovah;  there- 
fore Ihe  first  fruits  are  brought  back  to  Him,  and 
their  acceptance  is  effected  by  the  priest,  who, 
however,  represents  also  the  Levites,  the  widows 
and  orphans,  and  the  stranger.  As  in  the  N.  T. 
Christ  pictures  Himself  to  His  church  as  poor,  in 
the  person  of  the  poor  and  the  Utile  ones,  so  Je- 
hovah in  the  0.  T.  symbolically  pictures  Himself 
as  in  a  human  state  of  want,  in  Ihe  priests 
under  whose  protection  all,  especially  all  needy 


CHAP.  XX.  1— xxm. 


ones  stand.  So  then  the  church  ought,  conti- 
nually to  care  for  the  poor,  as  a  religious  tlu.y. 
Ver.  19.  Tenth  ordinance.  Not  boil  a  kid.— 
This  precept  seems  strange,  probably  for  the 
reason  that  it  may  be  in  a  high  degree  symboli- 
cal. First,  we  must  pronounce  incorrect  Lu- 
ther's translation:  "Not  boil  the  kid  while  it  is 
at  its  mother's  milk"  {vid.  1  Sam.  vii.  9).  Other 
incorrect  interpretations  see  in  Knobel:  (1) 
not  to  cook  and  eat  meat  and  milk  together;  (2) 
injunction  not  to  use  butter  instead  of  the  oil  of 
trees;  (3)  prohibition  of  an  odious  barbarity 
and  cruelty.  According  to  Knobel  there  is  a  re- 
ference to  a  custom  of  heathen  religious  which 
is  to  be  kept  away  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 
]'id.  his  commentary,  p.  237,  where  are  accounts 
of  Jewish  opinions  and  Arabian  usages.  "Aben 
Ezra  and  Abarbanel,"  he  says,  "  mention  the 
boiling  of  the  kid  in  milk  by  the  Arabs  of  their 
time;  and  they  are  right.  Up  to  the  present 
day  the  Arabs  generally  boil  the  flesh  of  lambs  in 
sour  milk,  thus  giving  to  it  a  peculiar  relish 
(Berggren,  Reisen,  etc.)."  Further  on  Knobel, 
following  Spencer,  professes  to  give  proofs  that 
a  peculiar  superstition  underlay  the  custom.  But 
the  heathen  element,  if  there  was  one  in  the 
practice,  might  have  been  excluded  without  pro- 
hibiting the  practice  itself.  If  we  assume  that 
the  precept  in  ver.  18  referred  to  the  first  feast, 
and  was  designed  to  prevent  the  profanation  of 
the  offering,  and  that  the  one  in  ver.  19  referred 
to  the  second  one,  and  was  designed  to  prevent 
the  neglect  of  the  peace-offering  and  the  priest- 
hood with  its  family  of  Levites  and  of  the  poor, 
it  is  natural,  with  Abarbanel  and  others,  to  refer 
this  precept  especially  to  the  third  feast;  and 
because  this  was  in  the  highest  degree  the  joy- 
ous feast  of  the  Israelites,  it  is  furthermore  pro- 
bable that  this  prohibition  was  designed  to  pre- 
vent a  luxury  which  was  inconsistent  with  sim- 
ple comfort,  and  which  moreover  was  hideous  in 
a  symbolical  point  of  view,  the  kid  here  being, 
as  it  were,  tortured  even  in  death  by  the  milk 
of  the  dam.  The  same  precept  condemns  all  the 
heathen  refinements  of  festive  gormandizing, 
such  as  are  still  practiced  (c.  g.  roasting  live 
animals).  This  epicurism  might  also  pitchupon 
the  eating  of  unclean  animals  or  other  haul  go&t; 
vid.  Deut.  xiv.  21,  where  the  same  prohibition  is 
connected  with  the  one  before  us.  Keil's  expla- 
nation, that  the  practice  marked  a  reversal  of 
the  divine  order  of  things  in  regard  to  the  rela- 
tion between  old  and  young,  is  less  intelligible 
than  that  the  kids  were  a  very  favorite  article  of 
food,  according  to  Gen.  xxvii.  9, 14;  Judg.  vi.  19, 
xiii.  15;  1  Sam.  xvi.  20.  To  be  sure,  the  usage 
considered  in  its  symbolical  aspect  was  a  sort  of 
unnature  such  as  the  keen  sense  of  natural  fit- 
ness which  characterized  the  Mosaic  laws  re- 
jected in  every  form,  so  that  it  even  denounced 
the  production  of  hybrid  animals  and  grains,  the 
mixing  of  different  materials  in  cloth,  as  well  as 
human  misalliances,  Lev.  xix.  19,  20. 

A.  The  Promises.  Vers.  20-33. 
That  this  last  division  also  of  the  religio-civil 
legislation  relates  to  the  political  commonwealth, 
is  seen  from  the  whole  contents  of  it,  especially 
from  vers.  22,  24  sqq.,  27,  33.  Knobel  calls 
them  "  Some  more  promises  ;"  Keil,  "  The  con- 


duct of  Jehovah  towards  Israel."  The  promises 
here  given  are  not  some,  but  a  whole  ;  not,  how- 
ever, the  whole  of  Jehovah's  promises,  but  the 
sum  of  the  civil  and  political  blessings  condi- 
tioned on  good  behavior.  (1)  Protection  of  an- 
gelic guidance,  of  the  religion  of  revelation;  and 
invincibility  founded  on  religious  obedience. 
(2)  Victory  over  tlie  Canaanites.  Possession  of 
the  holy  land  on  condition  of  their  purifying  the 
land  from  idolatry.  (3)  Abundance  of  food.  (4) 
Blessing  of  health.  (5)  Fertility  of  man  and 
beast.  (6)  Long  life.  (7)  The  respect  and  fear 
of  all  neighboring  peoples.  (8)  Mysterious  con- 
trol of  natur.al  forces  in  favor  of  Israel,  ver  28. 
(9)  The  suljjected  Canaanites  themselves  made 
to  serve  for  the  protection  of  the  growth  of 
Israel.  (10)  Wide  extent  of  territory  and  sure 
possession  of  it  on  condition  of  not  mingling 
with  the  Canaanites  and  their  idolatry. 

Vers.  20-22.  First  promise.  I  send  an  angel. 
— That  which  the  people,  as  the  religious  con- 
gregation of  God,  afterwards  h.ave  imposed  upon 
them  as  a  check  on  account  of  their  misbeha- 
vior (chap,  xxxiii.),  is  here  promised  to  the  civil 
congregation  as  a  protection.  This  cannot  well 
be  an  anticipation,  and  cannot,  with  Knobel,  be 
accounted  for  on  the  theory  of  "another  narra- 
tor" who  calls  this  angel  nin'  'Jp.  For  in 
xxxiii.  2,  3  two  forms  of  revelation  are  clearly  dis- 
tinguished. In  xxxiii.  18,  19  this  distinction  is 
between  Ihcglory  of  Jehovah  and  the  goodness  of 
Jehovah.  Further  on  it  is  said  that  no  one  can 
see  the  glory  in  its  full  display,  i.  e.  Jehovah's 
face,  but  can  see  its  reflected  splendor  as  it 
passes  by  in  sacred  obscurity  (ver.  23).  It  is 
therefore  a  private  relation  between  Jehovah 
and  Moses,  when  Jehovah  speaks  with  him  faco 
to  face  (xxxiii.  11),  and  hence  in  Moses'  con- 
sciousness the  two  degrees  of  revelation  go  to- 
gether. The  prophet  Moses  stands  as  Abra- 
ham's son  higher  than  Moses  the  lawgiver.  So 
Paul  (in  Gal.  iii.)  distinguishes  positively  be- 
tween the  form  of  revelation  which  Abraham  re- 
ceived and  the  form  of  revelation  by  which  the 
people  of  Israel  received  the  law  (vers.  16  and 
19).  This  difference  in  degree  is  presented  an- 
tithetically as  early  as  in  Jer.  xxxi.  32-34.  It 
harmonizes  entirely  with  this  distinction,  when 
the  angel  of  Jehovah  first  appears  to  Ilagar, 
Gen.  xvi.  7  ;  also  in  the  circumstance  that  he 
directs  her  to  return  to  the  household  to  whio*i 
she  legitimately  belonged.  Comp.  Gen.  xxi.  17. 
Later  alsothe  immediate  revelations  madebyGod 
to  Abraham  are  distinguished  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  angel  of  Jehovah  in  a  legal  aspect. 
Gen.  xxii.  1,  11.  The  difference  resembles  that 
between  inspiration  and  manifestation,  as  these 
two  through  ecstatic  vision  are  made  to  assume 
forms  different  in  degree.  The  angel  of  Jehovah 
is  therefore  the  revelation  of  Jehovah  for  the 
people  of  Israel  in  a  predominantly  legal  rela- 
tion; hence  also  the  form  of  the  political  theo- 
cracy as  it  is  instituted  through  the  mediation 
of  Moses  and  Aaron,  chiefly  of  Moses.  The  sal- 
vation of  the  people  will  depend  on  their  obedi- 
ence to  the  theocratic  religion,  as  shaped  by 
file  higher  form  of  the  ceremonial  revelation. 
This  angel  prepares  the  way  for  the  Israelites, 
and  conducts  them  to  their  goal.     Ilis  counte- 


Dance  in  the  theocratic  legal  institutions  is 
turned  towards  Israel ;  Jehovah's  name,  the  re- 
velation of  His  essential  being,  is  within  him, 
under  the  cover  of  this  angelic  form.  He  re- 
quires awe ;  he  can  be  easily  offended;  he  pun- 
ishes acts  of  disloyalty,  for  he  is  legal ;  hence 
he  goes  before  Israel  as  the  terror  of  God  to  in- 
timidate the  enemies.  Knobel  identifies  this 
Angel  of  the  Lord  with  the  pillar  of  cloud  and 
fire;  and  in  fact  this  was  a  sign  of  the  hidden 
presence  of  the  anjel,  xxxiii.  9. 

Vers.  23,  2-1.  F/A  Gen.  xv.  18sqq.  Annihila- 
tion of  the  public  heathen  worship  in  Canaan  af- 
ter its  conquest  by  Israel.  That  the  system 
of  worship  was  connected  with  the  morals,  which 
were  horrible  and  criminal,  is  even  thus  early 
made  prominent.  Vid.  the  parallel  passages  in 
Knobel,  p.  2o8. 

Ver.  25.  The  pure  service  of  Jehovah  is  the 
condition  of  well-being  and  health;  vid.  xv.  20; 
comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  16,  25;  Deut.  xxviii.  20.  Bread 
and  water,  the  most  important  articles  of  nutri- 
tion, symbols  of  all  kinds  of  welfare. 

Ver.  26.  Prevention  of  miscarriages.  Only 
one  item  in  a  whole  category:  diminution  of  the 
population  through  miscarriages,  unchastity, 
conjugal  Sins  against  procreation,  exposure  of 
children,  etc.;  comp.  Lev.  xxvi.  9;  Deut.  xxviii. 
11;  XXX.  9;  ixd.  Is.  xxv.  8 ;  Ixv.  23.  Respecting 
the  blessing  of  long  life,  vid.  chap,  xx.;  Deut.  v.; 
1  Cor.  XV.  51. 

Ver.  27.  My  fear. — This  marks  the  sphere 
of  intimidating  influences  exerted  by  the  religious 
power  of  Israel  on  the  heathen  in  general; 
■whereas  the  hornets  (ver.  28)  represent  tlie  ter- 
rifying or  destructive  effects  of  this  power  in 
particular.  Vid.  Gen.  xxxv.  5;  Ex.  xv.  14;  Ps. 
xviii.  41  (40);  xxi.  13  (12);  Josh.  vii.  8,  12. 

Ver.  28.  Hornets.— FeVf.  Deut.  vii.  20;  Wis- 
dom of  Solomon  xii.  8.  Says  Knobel:  ''Accord- 
ing to  Josh.  xxiv.  the  kings  of  the  Amorites,  Si- 
hon  and  Og,  were  driven  out  not  by  Israel's  wea- 
pons, but  by  the  n.J'')i'.  Elsewhere  neither  the 
word  nor  the  thing  occurs  in  the  0.  T."  Differ- 
ent explanations:  (1)  The  promise  is  literally 
meant.  So  Jarchi,  Clericus,  and  others.  (2) 
Plagues  in  general.  So  Saadias,  Michaelis,  and 
others.  (3)  The  expression  is  figurative.  So 
most  modern  interpreters.  Yet  the  text  evidently 
does  not  mean  to  identify  the  hornets  with  the 
great  general  terror  of  God,  as  Knobel  holds,  but 
distinguishes  them  from^t  as  small,  isolated,  but 
very  powerful  evils,  as  Keil,  following  Augus- 
tine, has  correctly  observed.  It  is  a  question 
even  whether  the  hornets  are  not  meant  to  repre- 
sent the  same  thing  as  the  bees,  Deut.  i.  44;  Pa. 


cxviii.  12 ;  Isa.  vii.  18.  The  bee  frightens  by  the 
multitude  of  tlie  irresistible  swarm:  the  hornets 
by  the  frightful  attack  and  sting  of  the  indivi- 
dual insect.  In  the  petty  religious  and  moral 
conflicts  between  Judaism  and  heathenism,  civil- 
ized Christian  nations  and  barbarians,  Indians, 
and  other  savages,  it  is  just  these  hornets,  these 
thousand-fold  particular  sources  of  terror,  moral 
thoi-ns,  and  even  physical  stings,  under  which  the 
enemies  gradually  succumb.  The  three  Canaan- 
itish  nations  which  are  here  named  denote  the 
totality;  perhaps,  however,  in  the  heathen  tri- 
nity may  be  found  a  reference  to  the  spiritual 
impotence  of  heathenism. 

Ver.  29.  Not  in  one  year. — Comp.  Deut.  vii. 
22;  Lev.  xxvi.  22;  Ezek.  xiv.  15,  21;  2  Kings 
xvii.  25;  Josh.  xiii.  1-7.  From  this  it  appears 
that  the  destruction  denounced  by  Jehovah  on 
the  Cauaanites  was  intended  primarily  for  them 
in  their  collective  and  public  capacity,  not  for 
the  individuals.  The  individuals,  in  so  far  as 
they  submit,  Jehovah  will  allow,  as  individuals,  to 
live;  and  to  live,  in  so  far  as  they  remain  heathen 
and  enemies,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
wild  beasts  from  getting  the  upper  hand  and  di- 
minishing the  number  of  the  people  of  Israel, 
which  as  yet  is  far  too  small  to  subdue  the  wild 
beasts,  and  the  wildness  of  nature  in  general. 
The  higher  races  of  mankind  are  still  iudebted 
for  this  service  to  the  lowest  races  throughout 
the  five  continents.  Even  savages  constitute  still 
a  sort  of  barrier  against  what  is  monstrous  in  na- 
ture, which  without  them  would  lapse  into  wild- 
ness. These  Canaanites  serve  this  purpose  only 
as  being  incorrigible.  In  proportion  as  nature 
is  reclaimed,  they  sink  aw.ay.  It  was  therefore 
not  the  fact  that  these  individuals  continued  to 
live  in  Israel,  but  that  the  Israelites  mingled 
with  them,  which  led  to  ruinous  consequences. 
Comp.  Judg.  i.  and  ii. 

Ver.  81.  Set  thy  bounds.— FiU  Gen.  xv. 
18.  The  Red  Sea  on  the  south— the  sea  of  the 
Philistines,  or  Mediterranean  Sea,  on  the  west — 
the  Arabian  desert  on  the  east  (Deut.  xi.  24),  the 
Euphrates  on  the  north.  These  ideal  boundaries 
are  assured  to  the  Israelites,  in  so  far  as  they 
conduct  themselves  in  relation  to  the  heathen 
according  to  the  ideal  standard.  Forming  al- 
liances with  the  heathen  and  recognizing  their 
political  existence  would  not  of  itself  be  actual 
apostasy,  but  it  would  be  a  snare  to  the  Israelites 
through  which  they  would  be  drawn  into  idola- 
try by  way  of  false  consistency  in  the  policy  of 
toleration.  The  lesson  is  to  be  applied  even  at 
the  present  day.  The  several  precepts  are  given 
by  Knobel,  p.  241. 


CHAP.  XXIV.  1-8. 


D.— TBE  FEAST  OF  THE  COVENANT  COMMANDED. 
Chap.  XXIV.  1-2. 

1  And  lie  said  unto  Moses,  Come  up  unto  Jehovah,  thou,  and  Aaron,  Nadab,  and 

2  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel ;  and  worship  ye  afar  ofl'.  And  Closes 
alone  shall  [let  Moses  alone]  come  near  Jehovah :  but  they  shall  not  [let  them  not] 
come  nigh ;  neither  shall  [and  let  not]  the  people  go  up  with  him. 

darkness  of  the  mountain;  by  which,  however,  ia 
not  exactly  meant  that  he  was  on  the  mountain 
(xx.  21).  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  supposed 
(with  Keil  and  Knobel)  that  Moses,  according  to 
XX.  21,  had  again  betalien  himself  to  the  mountain ; 
for  in  this  case  it  would  have  to  be  assumed  that 
the  descent  had  been  forgotten.  But  now  an  ascend- 
ing to  Jehovah  takes  place,  with  most  significant 
distinctions.  Moses,  the  prophet,  alone  is  per- 
mitted to  go  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  ap- 
proach Jehovah.  At  the  declivity  of  the  moun- 
tain the  priests  must  stop,  represented  by  Aaron 
and  his  sons,  Nadab  and  Abihu;  and  with  a  like 
limitation,  but  also  with  a  like  right,  the  state, 
the  popular  assembly,  represented  by  the  seventy 
elders.  They  occupy  a  middle  position  between 
the  prophet  above  and  the  people  below.  On 
Nadab  and  Abihu  vid.  Lev.  x.  1  sqq. 


EXEGETICAL  AND   CRITICAL. 

The  connection  of  this  passage  with  the  fore- 
going is  correctly  stated  by  Keil  in  opposition  to 
Knobel.  In  xx.  22  God  spoke  through  Moses  to 
the  people.  What  He  now  speaks  at  the  end  of 
the  giving  of  the  law  iifor  Moses  himself,  al- 
though he  must  communicate  with  the  people 
about  it.  After  Jehovah  has  proclaimed  the  law 
of  the  covenant  to  the  people,  the  feast  of  the 
covenant  must  be  celebrated.  It  is  presupposed, 
first,  that  God  has  spoken  from  Sinai  the  ten 
commandments  to  Moses  and  the  people  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  (xix.  25).  Then  that  He 
gave  the  ceremonial  laws  and  the  civil  laws  for 
the  people,  while  the  latter  had  removed  from 
the  mountain,  but  Moses  was  standing  in  the 


B.— RATIFICATION  OF  THE  COVENANT. 
Chap.  XXIV.  3-8. 

3  And  Moses  came  and  told  the  people  all  the  words  of  Jehovah,  and  all  the  judg- 

4  ments  [ordinances] :  and  all  the  people  answered  with  one  voice,  and  said,  All  the 
words  -which  Jehovah  hath  said  [spoken]  will  we  do.  And  INIoses  wrote  all  the 
word.s  of  Jehovah,  and  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  builded  an  altar  under 

5  the  hill  [mountaiu],  and  twelve  pillars,  according  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  And 
he  sent  young  [the  young]  men  of  the  children  of  Israel,  which  [and  they]  offered 
burnt-ofl'erings,    and  sacrificed    peace  offerings  of  oxen  [bullocks]    unto  Jehovah. 

6  And  Moses  took  half  of  the  blood,  and  put  it  in  basins;  and  half  of  the  blood  he 

7  sprinkled  on  the  altar.  And  he  took  the  book  of  the  covenant,  and  read  in  the  au- 
dience [hearing]  of  the  people:  and  they  said,  All  that  Jehovah  hath  said  [spoken] 

8  will  we  do,  and  be  obedient.  And  Moses  took  the  blood,  and  sprinkled  it  on  the 
people,  and  said.  Behold,  the  blood  of  the  covenant  which  Jehovah  hath  made  with 
you  concerning  all  these  words. 

evidently  the  report  must  have  included  the 
whole  threefold  law  (therefore  not  only  the  deca- 
logue), because  the  covenant  now  to  be  con- 
cluded was  to  relate  to  the  whole  law.  But  it  is 
also  self-evident  that  Moses  was  a  better  hearer 
of  the  ten  commandments  than  the  people  were, 
and  had  to  be  for  them  a  mediator  of  the  law 
which  they  themselves  had  heard.  Once  more 
the  assent  of  the  people  is  given  to  the  law  of 
the  covenant  unanimously — with  one  voice ;  prac- 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

Ver.  3.  And  Moses  came.— That  is,  out  of 

the  darkness  of  the  mountain,  not  exactly  from 

the  mountain  itself.     And  told  the  people. 

"  Not  the  decalogue  (as  Delitzsch  holds,  Ilehriier- 
bricf,  p.  414),  for  the  people  had  heard  this  im- 
mediately from  the  mouth  of  God,  but  the  words 
of  XX.  22-26,  and  all  the  laws"   (Keil).     But 


tically,  the  third  expression  of  compliance  {vid. 
XX.  19  and  xix.  8).  How  then  can  there  be  any 
more  thought  of  despotic  subjection  of  the  peo- 
ple ?  Thus  far  everything  has  been  done  orally ; 
and  for  the  first  time  Moses  makes  a  provisional 
copy  of  the  law. — Ver.  4.  The  covenant  is  con- 
cluded, aud  now  it  is  sealed  by  the  feast  of  the 
covenant.  Jloses  builds  early  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  an  altar  (for  Jehovah),  and  in  addi- 
tion twelve  pillars  for  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
"As  the  altar,'  says  Keil,  "being  the  place 
where  the  Lord  comes  to  bless  His  people  (xx. 
24),  indicates  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  so  the 
twelve  pillars,  or  signal  stones,  were  not  to  serve 
as  mere  memorial  signs  of  the  ratification  of  the 
covenant,  but,  as  the  dwelling-place  of  the  twelve 
tribes,  to  represent  their  presence."  Vid.  Gen. 
xxviii.  18,  xxxi.  45  (Knobel  on  Gen.  xxi.  31), 
Josh.  iv.  (memorial  stones).  Josh.  xxii.  11  sqq. 
(the  altar  a  symbol  of  unity). 

Ver.  5.  And  he  sent  the  young  men. 
The  young  men  must  officiate  in  offering  the  sa- 
crifices of  ratification.  Why?  Different  views: 
(1)  As  first-born  children,  who  constitute  the 
natural  basis  for  the  priesthood  (Onkelos),  or 
even  the  sons  of  Aaron  (Augustine).  (2)  Vigor- 
ous men,  as  Moses'  assistants  in  making  the 
offering  (Knobel:  first-born  youths).  (3)  As 
representatives  of  the  youthful  people  (Kurtz 
III.,  p.  143).  The  young  men  of  the  nation 
stand  midway  between  the  children  and  the 
men  ;  they  share  with  the  first  tlieir  innocence, 
and  with  the  latter  their  strength,  and,  as  being 
the  bloom  of  the  national  life,  are  the  fittest  re- 
presentatives of  an  incipient  national  life.  When 
the  national  life  is  to  be  restored  by  wars  of 
liberation  or  defence,  the  young  men  enter  the 
lists.  Thus  Israel  concludes  its  covenant  with 
Jehovah  through  the  bloom  of  its  national  life, 
the  young  men — according  to  a  general  law  of 
the  life  of  nations,  which  Kurtz  has  at  least  sug- 
gested (but  criticised  by  Keil,  note  1,  p.  157).* 
It  is,  however,  an  observation  needed  only  by 
the  high-churchly,  when  Kurtz  lays  stress  on  the 
fact  that  the  bringing  and  slaying  of  the  victims 
was  not  a  sacerdotal  function.  For  as  yet  "  the 
universal  priesthood"  officiates,  although  Moses 
alone  as  yet  exercises  the  function  of  high-priest. 
Archaeological  notes  on  the  young  men  offering, 
vid.  in  Knobel,  p.  242. — Burnt-oSerings  and 
peace-offerings.  The  burnt-offerings  symbol- 
ize Jehovah's  part  of  the  festive  solemnities:  the 
peace-offerings  that  of  the  people. — Bullocks. 
The  great  covenant  cannot  be  ratified  by  the  sa- 
crifice of  sheep  or  goats. — Half  of  the  blood. 
On  the  division  of  the  blood,  vid.  Keil,  p.  ISS.f  We 


*  The  English  edition  omit^ 
there  is  nowtiere  any  indicati. 
proaches  .Teliovah  through  : 
officiated,  i       ■     • 


tlic   1 


have  no  hesitation,  in  spite  of  superstitious  in- 
terpretations of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  of  the 
ritual,  to  conceive  of  the  one-half  of  this  blood 
as  a  sacrifice,  and  the  other  as  a  sacrament  typi- 
cally foreshadowed.  In  accordance  with  this 
reference  the  sacrificial  element  is  traceable  in 
the  burnt-offering,  the  sacrament  in  the  D'O 7!?, 
peace-offerings,  or  thank-offerings.  Keil,  refer- 
ring to  Blihr  and  Knobel,  rightly  opposes  the 
adducing  of  the  analogy  of  heathen  usages,  in 
so  far  as  thereby  an  identification  of  the  usage 
is  intended  (vid.  Knobel,  p.  243);  but  an  affinily 
of  the  profane  with  the  theocratic  sacrificial 
usages  cannot  be  denied.  Keil  is  also  incorrect, 
when,  in  reference  to  these  offerings,  he  speaks 
of  expiation  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word. 
This  could  least  of  all  be  applied  to  the  peace- 
offerings,  or  festive-offerings.  The  offerings  in 
general,  it  is  true,  rest  on  the  consciousness  of 
the  sinfulness  which  leads  man.  with  his  good 
will, and  in  symbolic  form,lobring  to  God, as  con- 
fession, prayer,  and  vow,  what  in  his  real  condi- 
tion as  sinful  in  his  spiritual  life  he  cannot  bring 
Him — in  the  burnt-offering  the  sinless  consecra- 
tion of  his  whole  life,  in  the  peace-offering  the 
sinless  consecration  of  all  his  prosperity  and  en- 
joyment. It  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
legal  stand-point  that  Moses  at  first  pours  out  the 
Ijlood  designed  for  God  at  the  altar  of  God; 
thereby  he  symbolically  effects  a  general  and 
complete  surrender  of  the  people  to  God.  But 
not  till  after  he  has  read  the  book  of  the  cove- 
nant, the  laws  of  chs.  xx.-xxiii.,  and  the  people 
have  given  their  fullest  assent  {vid.  the  transla- 
tion), does  he  sprinkle  the  people  with  the  other 
half  of  the  blood  of  the  offering,  which  till  then 
was  kept  in  the  basin,  while  he  calls  it  the  blood 
of  the  covenant  that  has  been  completed.  It 
can  hardly  be  correct,  with  Keil,  to  understand 
the  blood  to  have  been  halved  only  because  the 
blood  sprinkled  on  the  altar  could  not  be  again 
taken  from  it  and  sprinkled  on  the  people;  but 
he  is  right  in  assuming  that  the  halves  belong 
together.  Clearly  there  is  formed  out  of  the 
identity  of  the  blood  a  contrast  in  ar.tu.  In  this 
contrast,  however,  the  thought  comes  out  that 
surrender  in  general,  in  accordance  with  the 
conditions  of  grace,  must  precede  obedience  in 
particular,  according  to  the  law.  This  is  the 
patriarchal  and  evangelical  seal  impressed  on 
the  law,  such  as  also  introduces  the  decalogue — 
the  languiige  about  the  redeeming  God.  The 
expression,  "blood  of  the  covenant,''  is,  it  is 
true,  a  marked  one,  denoting  an  ideally  symboli- 
cal exchange  of  blood,  as  a  foundation  for  blood 
relationship.  But  no  human  blood  is  here  used, 
and  still  less  can  there  be  any  thought  of  real 
blood  of  God,  although,  as  sacrificial  blood,  it 
comes  from  God  (and  so  far  forth  is  a  typical 
mystery),  and  is  sprinkled  upon  men,  symboli- 
cally expiating  them  and  devoting  them  to  sano- 
tification,  vid.  xxix.  21,  Lev.  viii.  30. 

on  the  people,  the  two  halves  of  the  blood  are  to  be  regarded 

sprinkled  oh  the  allar  and  then  on  the  people,  as  was  really 
done  at  the  consecration  of  the  priests,  xxix.  21,  Lev.  viii. 


CHAP.  XXIV.  9- 


F.— FEAST   OF   THE   COVENANT. 


9       Then  went  up  Moses,  and  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders 

10  of  Israel:  And  they  saw  the  God  of  Israel :  and  there  was  under  his  feet  us  it  were 
a  paved  work  of  a  sapphire  stone  [as  it  were  work  of  bright  sapphire],  and  as  it 

11  were  the  body  of  heaven  [the  very  heaven]  in  hi^  clearness  [for  clearness].  And 
upon  the  noljles  of  the  children  of  Israel  he  laid  not  his  hand:  also  [and]  they  saw 
God,  and  did  eat  and  drink. 


EXEGETICAL  AND   CRITICAL. 

A  -wonderfully  beautiful,  publime,  but.  also 
mysterious  feature  of  tlie  history  of  the  giving 
of  tlie  law.  In  it  we  see  the  significance  of  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  further  carried  out.  It 
is  the  communion  festival  of  the  law — a  commu- 
nion of  the  Israelites,  in  the  persons  of  their  no- 
blest representatives,  with  Jehovah, — the  other 
side  of  the  picture  presented  by  the  communion 
of  Moaes,  his  brother  Aaron,  and  the  elders,  with 
Jethro,  Moses'  heathen  father-in-law,  after  the 
latter  offered  burnt-offerings  and  sacrifices,  and 
doubtless  also,  as  here,  peace-offerings,  xviii. 
12.— A  prophetic  form  of  the  communion  feast 
is  given  by  Isaiah,  ch.  xxv.  6-8.  The  first  reali-  j 
zaiion  of  it,  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper,  I 
frequently  made  to  point  figuratively  to  the  last  j 
supper  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  (Matt.  xix.  28),  j 
finds  its  last  fulfilment  in  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb,  Rev.  six.  7-9.  j 

Ver.  9.  Therefore  the  representatives  of  Israel 
went  up,  according  to  the  prophetic,  ceremo-  ! 
nial,  and  political  elements  of  the  community. 
Aaron's  sons  mark  the  genealogical  succession 
of  the  Levitical  priesthood;  the  prophets  have 
no  genealogical  succession ;  the  elders  must 
grow  up  to  attain  their  dignity,  and  from  the 
whole  of  them  seventy  are  chosen  as  representa- 
tives, according  to  the  sacred  number  seventy. 
Vid.  Gen.  xlvi.  27. 

Ver.  10.  And  they  saw  the  God  of  Israel. 
It  is  not  said  that  they  saw  Jehovah,  though  He 
is  meant ;  for  Jehovah  is  the  God  of  Israel. 
Therefore  not  mH'  1^33,  as  Knobel  conceives, 
referring  to  xvi.  10.  He  saya,  "According  to  the 
chief  narrator  this  favor  was  shown  only  to 
Moses,  and  that  too  later  than  this,  and  at  his 
special  request."  Two  discrepancies  are  said 
to  be  found  here:  (1)  That  Moses  "does  not  see 
the  glory  of  Jehovah  till  afterwards,  xxxiii.  18;" 
(2)  That  "according  to  the  chief  narrator  the 
people  themselves  at  the  proclamation  of  the  ten 
commandments  perceived  only  thunder,  light- 
ning, clouds,  noise  of  trumpets,  and  the  voice  of 
Jehovah;"  but  here  also  the  ninni33  [glory  of 
Jehovah],  according  to  ver.  17  !  The  narrative 
evidently  brings  out  two  marked  contrasts.  The 
first  is  the  seeing  of  Elohim.  and  the  seeing  of 
Jehovah;  the  second  is  the  heavenly  clear- 
ness above  the  mountain  during  the  feast  of  the 


covenant,  and  the  subsequent  darkening  of  the 
mountain  by  cloud  and  fire  which  took  place  when 
the  law  was  drawn  up.  The  vision  of  Jehovah  in 
its  several  stages  of  development  is  marked  by  Isa. 
vi.  1  and  Ezek.  i.  26,  Dan.  vii.  9-13  (comp.  Num. 
xii.  8).  During  the  feast  of  the  covenant  at  the 
declivity  of  the  mountain  (according  to  ver.  1 
prescribed  before  the  covenant  was  formed)  the 
representatives  of  Israel  saw  the  God  of  Israel. 
It  was  a  vision,  for  which  no  objective  image  is 
furnished.  But  the  sign  of  the  objective  image 
is  called  the  image  of  a  work  or  footstool  under 
God's  feet,  of  brilliant  sapphire,  of  sky  blue  there- 
fore, like  the  heaven  in  its  full  brightness,  as  is 
added  by  way  of  further  explanation.  This 
ethereally  delicate  picture  of  the  vision  of  the  co- 
venant God  of  Israel  in  His  grace  and  covenant 
faithfulness  has  been  coarsened  and  obscured  in 
two  directions.  According  to  Knobel,  the  figure 
under  God's  feet  is  "like  a  work  of  sapphire 
slabs ;"  and  he  refers  to  Ezek.  i.  21),  and  reads 
njD7,  vid.  p.  244.  According  to  Baumgarten 
there  was  no  image  of  God,  because  the  vision  of 
the  men  was  imperfect.  According  to  Hofmann  the 
fire  was  separated  from  the  cloud  and  turned  into  a 
form.  According  to  Keil  they  saw  also  a  form  of 
God,  which,  however,  is  not  described,  "inas- 
much as  Moses,  according  to  Num.  xii.  8,  saw 
the  form  of  Jehovah."  But  here  we  are  told  of 
a  vision  of  the  supermundane  God  as  the  God  of 
Israel,  not  of  a  vision  of  Jehovah  becoming  in- 
irarnate.  This  is  the  firsi  contrast.  The  second 
is  the  fact  that  at  the  feast  of  the  covenant  the 
cloud  and  the  darkness  are  entirely  gone,  that 
the  heavens  open  themselves,  as  it  were,  to  tke 
transported  gazers  in  the  full  splendor  of  the 
heavenly  blue,  as  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus;  whereas 
immediately  afterwards,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
drawing  up  of  the  law,  the  mountain  was  obscured 
again,  even  more  than  before,  as  was  the  case  when 
the  ten  commandments  were  first  proclaimed.  This 
is  now  again  a  phenomenal  image  of  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  as  a  law-giver,  the  same  one  who  also  in 
ch.  xxxiii.  does  not  show  Moses,  the  law-giver,  the 
face  of  His  glory,  but  only  its  reflected  splen- 
dor. The  exegetical  assumption  that  an  external 
image  must  correspond  to  a  vision  of  God,  or 
that  the  sight  must  always  be  an  external  see- 
ing, has  no  Biblical  basis,  although  even  here 
the  inward  vision  is  connected  with  the  sight  of 
an  outward  cprresponding  Bign. 


Ver.  1 1.  He  laid  not  his  hand.  It  is  dan- 
peroiis  for  sinful  man  to  approach  God,  because 
the  holiness  and  justice  of  God  repel  him;  hence 
the  true  priest  is  he  who  can  summon  courage 
to  approach  God  (Jer.  xxx.  21).  But  the  view 
of  the  countenance  of  Jehovah  annihilates,  as  it 
were,  the  sinful  man  (slays  the  old  man);  hence 
the  Jewish  popular  saying,  that  no  one  can  see 
God  without  dying,  vid.  Judg.  xiii.  22.  At  that 
very  place  the  error  in  the  popular  notion  is  cor- 
rected by  Manoah's  wife;  yet  the  full  revelation 
of  Jehovah  is  still  dangerous  and  agitating  even 
for  one  who  sacerdolally  approaches  and  sees 
Him  (vid.  Rev.  i.).  Hence  to  the  legal  mind  of  the 
narrator  it  is  an  astonishing  and  joyous  wonder  of 
grace  that  the  God  of  Israel  did  not  punish  the  no- 
bles of  Israel  for  their  temerity.  In  the  enjoy- 
ment of  this  theocratic  peace  of  God  "  the  nobles 
of  the  children  of  Israel"  received  a  pledge  that 
the  people  of  Israel  themselves  were  also  called 
to  this  dignity.  They  received  this  peace  for 
the  benefit  of  Israel.     And  they  saw  God. — 


Luther's  translation  makes  the  sentence  describe 
two  successive  events:  "and  when  they  had  seen 
God,  they  ate  and  dranlj."  But  the  two  are 
simultaneous;  the  seeing  of  God  and  the  eating 
and  drinking  are  intimately  connected,  forming 
a  prelude  of  sacramental  enjoyments.  Fear 
might  report:  "  they  saw  God  and  died;"  but 
instead  of  that  faith  reports:  "Ihey  saw  God, 
and  ate  and  drank."  In  ver.  14  is  found  an  in- 
dication that  the  nobles  of  Israel  were  on  a  de- 
clivity of  the  mountain,  which,  as  contrasted  with 
the  summit,  might  be  regarded  as  in  the  valley, 
and  from  which  they  could  keep  up  their  con- 
nection with  the  people.  According  to  Keil, 
Moses  also  bad  first  left  the  mountain  with  them, 
and  afterwards  ascended  it  again.  This  assump- 
tion may  be  favored  by  the  fact  that  Joshua 
now  comes  into  company  with  Moses.  Moses 
needed  his  servant,  since  there  was  now  to  be  a 
longer  stay  on  the  mountain.  Knobel  also  under- 
stands the  command,  "  Tarry  here,"  of  the  stay 
at  the  foot  of  Sinai. 


G.— THE   SUMMONS   TO   COMMIT   THE   LAW   TO   WRITING. 
Chapter  XXIV.  12-18. 

12  And  Jehovali  said  unto  Moses,  Come  up  to  me  into  the  mount,  and  be  there: 
and  I  will  give  thee  [thee  the]  tables  of  stone,  and  a  [the]  law,  and  commandraeuts 
[the  commandment]  which  I  have  written,  that  thou  mayest  teach  [written,  to 

13  teach]  them.     And  Moses  rose  up,  and  his  minister  Joshua:  and  Moses  went  up 

14  into  the  mount  of  God.  And  he  said  unto  the  elders.  Tarry  ye  here  for  us,  until 
we  come  again  [back]  unto  you :  and  behold,  Aaron  and  Hur  are  with  you  :  if  any 

15  man  have  any  matters  to  do  [whosoever  hath  a  suit],  let  him  come  unto  them.    And 

16  Moses  went  up  into  the  mount,  and  a  [the]  cloud  covered  the  mount.  And  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  abode  upon  mount  Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it  six  days :  and 

17  the  [on  the]  seventh  day  lie  called  unto  Moses  out  of  the  midst  of  the  cloud.  And 
the  sight  [appearance]  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  mos  like  devouring  fire  on  the  top 

18  of  the  mount  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  Moses  went  into  the  midst 
of  the  cloud,  and  gat  him  up  into  the  mount:  and  Moses  was  in  the  mount  forty- 
days  and  forty  nights. 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

Ver.  12.  And  Jehovah  said.  The  particu- 
lar legislative  relation  of  Je/wvah  here  becomes 
again  prominent,  whereas  heretofore  the  seventy 
elders  of  Israel  may  have  represented  Israel's 
vocation  to  become  a  shepherd  of  the  nations  in 
their  relation  to  Elohim.  Moses  is  now  sum- 
moned to  a  longer  stay  on  the  summit  .of  the 
mountain.  Tlie  mere  reception  of  the  tables  is 
related  in  ■s.xx\.  18.  No  very  long  stay  was 
needed  for  that.  What  Moses  as  mediator  of 
tlie  law  did  upon  the  mountain,  .Tehovah  did  in- 
deed do  througli   liiin         I'll!   In  vi^lf-  \\[\<  tliere 

*  fin  rr-prpsptitint:  til  .    ,,,'  iM'.lto 


was  added  a  new,  grand  task  :  the  construction 
of  the  tabernacle.  The  law  (or,  the  instruc- 
tion) and  the  commandment.  Not  as  two 
parts,  but  as  two  fundamental  forms  of  the  legis- 
lation. The  law  is  originally  oral  instruction 
(tliordh),  but  is  written  down  as  commandaient 
only  by  Jehovah  as  the  proper  author,  and  is 
again  to  be  transferred  into  living  instruction 
for  the  people  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet. 

Ver.  13.  And  Joshua.  Vid.  xvii.  9,  xxxii. 
17,  xxxiii.  11.     Mount  of  God.      Yid.  iii.  1. 

Ver.  14.  Tarry  ye  here  for  us.     At  the  foot 


wniiM  not  justify  the  i 
ticuliinty  that  the  two 
of  God  "  (xxxi.  18),  am 
God,  and  the  writing  ^ 
A  man  may  be  said  to  t 


ator  in  declar 


CHAP  XXV.  1— XXXI. 


of  the  mountain?  That  they  were  not  to  go  any 
further  with  the  people  must  have  been  quite 
self-evident.  Moses  goes  now  through  the  flame 
and  the  darkness  as  it  were  to  death  ;  he  there- 
fore institutes  for  the  interim  a  government, 
which,  standing  between  the  mountain  and  the 
people,  represents  the  outward  sanctuary  which 
was  still  wanting,  and  at  the  same  time  governs 
the  people.  Aaron  and  Hur  (vid.  xvii.  12)  are 
nominated  as  chief  magistrates  to  settle  suits 
that  might  arise. 

Ver.  15  sqq.  Moses  ascends  the  mountain,  and 
is  concealed  by  the  cloud  for  six  days.  It  is  the 
cloud  which  at  once  reveals  and  conceals  the 
glory  of  Jehovah,  identical  in  significance  with 
the  pillar  of  cloud,  but  different  from  it  in  form, 
Bince  it  covers  the  mountain.  On  the  seventh 
day  Jehovah  calls  Moses  to  Himself  out  of  the 
cloud,  and  the  cloud  is  now  transformed,  to 
the  people  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  in 
its  outward  appearance,  into  the  radiance  of 
a  consuming  fire.  Into  this  fiery  radiance 
Moses  enters,  through  the  fiery  flame,  as 
it  were,  of  the  unapproachable  justice  of  God 
(Heb.  xii.  18,  20),  as  it  were,  through  the  light- 
nings of  the  flaming  sword  of  the  cherubim  (Gen. 


iii.),  in  order  to  receive  the  fiery  law  (Deut. 
xxxiii.  2)  which  goes  through  the  world's  his- 
tory under  the  protection  of  the  cloudy  darkness 
and  of  the  fire  (Ps.  xviii.  8-13,  civ.  4,  Isa.  vi.  2-4, 
Zeph.  i.  15,  Zech.  xiv.  7,  Mai.  iv.  1,  Matt.  xxiv. 
2'J,  2  Pet.  iii.  10,  Rev.  xviii.),  in  order  to  sanctify 
the  people  of  God  by  means  of  judgment  and  de- 
liverance, and  to  prepare  for  tlie  reconstruction 
of  the  old  world.  The  lawgiver  had  to  be  fa- 
miliar with  this  design  of  the  sacred  fire, 
whose  typical  significance  reaches  its  climax 
and  turning-point  in  the  life  of  Elijah.  So  then 
he  seemed  to  the  people  to  have  disappeared ;  and 
after  his  stay  of  forty  days  and  nights  on  the 
mountain  where  he  had  a  vision  of  the  taberna- 
cle, the  image  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  peo- 
ple might  imagine  that  he  had  perished  in  the 
terrors  of  the  mountain.  Knobel  confounds  the 
first  stay  of  forty  days  on  the  mountain  with  the 
second.  The  origin  of  the  idea  of  the  tabernacle 
on  the  mountain  coincides  in  time  with  the 
origin  of  the  golden  calf,  and  so  there  arises  a 
contrast,  in  which  nevertheless  the  tabernacle 
outweighs  the  golden  calf.  On  the  significance 
of  the  forty  days,  vid.  the  Introduction,  as  also 
the  Introduction  to  Revelation. 


H.— THE  VISION  OR  THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  TABERNACLE.  THE  ORDERING  OF  THE  ARK 
AND  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  COVENANT;  OF  THE  LIVING  PRESENCE  OF  THE  LAW 
AND  OF  THE  DWELLING-PLACE  OF  THE  LAW-GIVER. 

Chapters  XXV.— XXXL 
I.  Contributions  for  the  Building.     Preliminary  Condition. 
1,  2      And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
that  they  bring  me  an  offering  :  of  every  man  that  givetlt  it  willingly  with  his  heart 

3  [whose  heart  maketh  him  willing]   ye  shall  take  my  offering.     And  this  is  the  of- 

4  fering  which  ye  shall  take  of  them  ;  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  And  blue,  and  pur- 

5  pie,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen,  and  goats'  hair,  And  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and 

6  badgers'  [seals']  skins,  and  shittiin   [acacia]   wood.  Oil  for  the  light,  spices  for 

7  anointing  [the  anointing]  oil,  and  for  sweet   [the  sweet]  incense.  Onyx  stones,  and 

8  stones  to  be  set  in  [set,  for]  the  ejihod,  and  in  [for]  the  breast-plate.     And  let  them 

9  make  me  a  sanctuary  that  I  may  dwell  among  them.  According  to  all  that  I  shew 
thee,  after  [thee,]  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  pattern  of  all  the  instru- 
ments [furniture]  thereof,  even  so  shall  ye  make  it. 

II.  The  Structure  itself.     The  Place  of  Worship. 
1.    The  Ark. 

10  And  they  shall  make  an  ark  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood  :  two  cubits  and  a  half 
shall  he  the  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  thereof,  and  a  cubit 

11  and  a  half  the  height  thereof  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold,  within 
and  without  shalt  thou  overlay  it,  and  shalt  make  upon  it  a  crown  [moulding]  of 

12  gold  round  about.  And  thou  shalt  cast  four  rings  of  gold  for  it,  and  put  them  in 
the  four  corners  [feet]  thereof;  and  two  rings  shall  be  in  [on]  the  one  side  of  it,  and 

13  two  rings  in  [on]  the  other  side  of  it.     And  thou  shalt  make  staves  of  shittim 

14  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  staves  into 
the  rings  by  the  sides  of  the  ark,  that  the  ark  may  be  borne  with  them  [to  bear  the 

15  ark  with].     The  staves  shall  be  in  the  rings  of  the  ark:  they  shall  not  be  taken 


104  EXODUS. 


16  from  it.     And  thou  shalt  put  into  the  ark  the  testimony  which  I  shall  give  thee. 

17  And  thou  shalt  make  a  mercy-seat  of  pure  gold  :  two  cubits  and  a  half  sludl  be  the 

18  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  thereof  And  thou  shalt  make 
two  cherubims  [cherubim]  of  gold,  of  beaten  work  shalt  thou  make  them  in  [at] 

19  the  two  ends  of  the  mercy-seat.  And  make  one  cherub  on  [at]  the  one  end,  and 
the  otlier  cherub  ou  [at]  the  other  end :  even  of  [of  one  piece  with]  the  mercy-seat' 

20  .shall  ye  make  the  cherubims  [cherubim]  on  [at]  the  two  ends  thereof  And  the 
cherubims  [cherubim]  shall  stretch  forth  their  wings  on  high,  covering  the  mercy- 
seat  with  their  wings,  and  their  tiices  shall  look  [with  their  faces]  one  to  another  : 

21  toward  the  mercy-seat  shall  the  faces  of  the  cherubims  [cherubim]  be.  And  thou 
shalt  put  the  mercy-seat  above  upon  the  ark ;  aud  iu  the  ark  tliou  shalt  put  the 

22  testimony  that  I  shall  give  thee.  And  there  I  will  meet  with  thee,  and  I  will  com- 
mune with  thee  from  above  the  mercy-seat,  from  between  the  two  cherubims  [cheru- 
bim] which  are  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  of  all  things  which  I  will  give  thee 
in  commandment  unto  the  children  of  Israel. 

2.  The  Table. 

23  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  table  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood :  two  cubits  shall  he  the  length 
thereof,  and  a  cubit  the  breadth  thereof  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  height  thereof 

24  And  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold,  and  make  thereto  a  crown  [moulding]  of  gold 

25  roundabout.  Andthoushaltmakeuntoitaborderof  an  [a]  handbreadth  round  about, 
and  thou  shalt  make  a  golden  crown  [moulding]  to  the  border  thereof  round  about. 

26  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it  four  rings  of  gold,  and  put  the  rings  in  [on]  the  four 

27  corners  that  are  on  [belong  to]  the  four  feet  thereof     Over  against  [Close  by]  the 

28  border  shall  the  rings  be  for  places  of  [for]  the  staves  to  bear  the  table.  And  thou 
shalt  make  the  staves  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold,  that 

28  the  table  may  be  borne  with  them.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  dishes  [plates] 
thereof,  and  spoons  [the  cups]  thereof,  and  covers  [the  flagons]  thereof  and  bowls 
[the  bowls]  thereof,  to  cover  [pour  out]  withal:  o/pure  gold  shalt  thou  make  them. 

30  And  thou  shalt  set  upon  the  table  shew-bread  before  me  alway. 

3.   The  Candlestick. 

31  And  thou  shalt  make  a  candlestick  of  pure  gold :  of  beaten  work  shall  the  can- 
dlestick be  made  :  hLs  shaft,  and  his  branches,  his  bowls,  his  knops,  and  his  flowers 
shall  be  of  the  same  [of  beaten  work  shall  be  made  the  candlestick,  its  base  and 

32  its  shaft :  its  cups,  its  knobs,  and  its  flowers  shall  be  of  one  piece  with  it].'  And 
six  branches  shall  come  out  [coming  out]  of  the  sides  of  it:  three  branches  of  the 
candlestick  out  of  the  one  side  [one  side  of  it],  and  three  braoches  of  the  candle- 

33  stick  out  of  the  other  side  [side  of  it]  :  Three  bowls  [cups]  made  like  unto  al- 
monds [almond-blossoms]  ivith  a  knop  and  a  flower  iu  one  branch  [in  one  branch, 
a  knob  and  a  flower] ;  aud  three  bowls  [cups]  made  like  almonds  [almond- 
blossoms]  iu  the  other  branch,  ivith  [branch,]   a  knop  [knob]  and  a  flower :  so  in 

34  [for]  the  six  branches  that  come  out  of  the  candlestick.  And  iu  the  candlestick 
shall  be  four  bowls  [cups]  made  like  unto  almonds,  with  [almond-blossoms,]  their 

35  [its]  knops  [knobs]  and  their  [its]  flowers.  And  there  shall  be  a  knop  [knob] 
under  two  branches  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  and  a  knop  [knob]  under  two 
branches  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  and  a  knop  [knoli]  under  two  branches 
of  the  same  [of  one  piece  mth  it],  according  to  [for]  the  sis  branches  that  proceed 

TEXTUAL   AND   GKAMMATICAL. 

1  rXXV.  19.  ri133n-p,  e^.  titerally,  "From  the  mercy-seat  shall  ye  make  the  cherubim."  This  is  understood 
by  some  to  mean :  "  rising  up  from  the  mercy-seat."  But  tho  simple  p  hardly  conveys  that  notion ;  it  has,  perhaps,  some- 
what of  its  original  import,  «  part,"  so  that  tho  direction  is  to  make  th»  cherubim  a  part  of  the  mercy-seat,  i. «.,  of  one  piece 
with  it.— Tr.] 

2  [XXV.  31.  The  chango  proposed  in  the  punctuation  is  one  required  by  the  IV^oretic  accentuation  as  well  as  by  the 
eeme,  though  adopted  by  only  a  few  commentators  (Knobel,DeWetteBu^^^^^^^^^ 


...,  .,.„./bTm^7l;Mh7,am/,"Vh7,;;:trn"arises:  ifTe' sam;  with  .^a»  For  the  seve:.!  specifica.ions  include  the  .W. 
of  tho  candlestick.  The  direction  thus  would  be  to  make  all  the  several  parts  of  the  candlestick  of  the  same  piece  with  tho 
candlestick— which  is  senseless.- Te.] 


CHAr.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18.  105 

36  [come]  out  of  the  candlestick.  Their  knops  [knobs]  and  their  branches  shall  be  of 
the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it]  :  all  it  [all  of  it]  shxll  be  one  beaten  work  of  pure 

37  gold.     And  thou  shalt  make  the  seven  lamps  thereof;  and  they  shall  light  [set  up] 

38  the  lamps  thereof,  that  they  may  give  light  over  against  it.     And  tiie   tongs  [snuf- 

39  fers]  thereof,  and  the  snuff-dishes  thereof,  shall  be  of  pure  gold.      Of  a  talent  of  pure 

40  gold  .shall  he  make  it  [.shall  it  be  made],  with  all  these  vessels  [instruments].  And 
look  [see]  that  thou  make  them  after  their  pattern,  which  was  shewed  tbee  in  the 
mount. 

4.   The  Dwelling  [the  Tent). 

Chap.  XXVI.  1.  Moreover  thou  shalt  make  the  tabernacle  toUh  ten  curtains  of 
[curtains:  of]  fine  twined  linen,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet:  M'(7/i  [scarlet, 
with]  cherubims  [cherubim]  of  cunning  work  [the  work  of  a  skilful  weaver]  shalt 

2  thou  make  them.  The  length  of  one  [each]  curtain  shall  be  eight  and  twenty 
cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  [each]  curtain  four  cubits :  and  every  one  of  the 

3  [all  the]  curtains  shall  have  one  measure.  The  five  [Five  of  the]  curtains  shall  be 
coupled  together  one  to  another ;  and  other  [the  other]  five  curtains  shall  be  cou- 

4  pled  one  to  another.  And  thou  shalt  make  loops  of  blue  upon  the  edge  of  the  one 
[first]  curtain  from  the  selvedge  [at  the  border]  in  the  coupling  [the  set  of  curtains]  ; 
and  likewise  shalt  thou  make  in  [so  shalt  thou  do  with]  the  uttermost  edge  of  another 
curtain  [the  edge  of  the  outmost  curtain]  in  the  coupling  of  the  second  [in  the  second 

5  set  of  curtains].  Fifty  loops  shalt  thou  make  in  the  one  curtain,  and  fifty  loops  shalt 
thou  make  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain  that  is  in  the  coupling  of  the  second  [in  the 
second  set  of  curtains]  ;  that  the  loops  may  take  hold  one  of  [the  loops  shall  be 

6  opposite  one  to]  another.  And  thou  shalt  make  fifty  taches  [clasps]  of  gold,  and 
couple  the  curtains  together  [one  to  another]  with  the  taches  [clasps]  ;  and  it  shall 

7  be  one  tabernacle  [the  tabernacle  shall  be  one].  And  thou  shalt  make  curtains  of 
goat's  hair  to  be  a  [for  a]  covering  [tent]  upon  [over]  the  tabernacle :  eleven  cur- 

8  tains  shalt  thou  make.  The  length  of  one  [each]  curtain  shall  be  thirty  cubits,  and 
the  breadth  of  one  [each]  curtain  four  cubits :  and  [cubits :]  the  eleven  curtains 

9  shall  be  all  of  [shall  have]  one  measure.  And  thou  shalt  couple  five  curtains  by 
themselves  and  six  curtains  by  themselves,  and  shalt  double  [fold  together]  the 

10  sixth  curtain  in  the  forefront  [front]  of  the  tabernacle  [tent].  And  thou  shalt 
make  fifty  loops  on  the  edge  of  the  one  curtain  that  is  outmost  in  the  coupling  [first 
set  of  curtains],  and  fifty  loops  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain  which  coupleth  the  second 

11  [is  the  second  set].  Aid  thou  shalt  make  fifty  taches  [clasps]  of  brass,  and  put 
the  taches  [clasps]  into  the  loops,  and  couple  the  tent  together,  that  it  may  [and  it 

12  shall]  be  one.  And  the  remnant  [excess]  that  remaineth  of  the  curtains  of  the 
tent,  the  half  curtain  that  remaineth,  shall  hang  over  the  back -side  [back]  of  the 

13  tabernacle.  And  a  [the]  cubit  on  the  one  side,  and  a  [the]  cubit  on  the  other  side 
of  that  which  remaineth  in  the  length  of  the  curtains  of  the  tent,  it  [tent,]  shall 
hang  over  the  sides  of  the  tabernacle  on   this  side  and  on  that  side,  to  cover  it. 

14  And  thou  shalt  make  a  covering  for  the  tent  of  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  a  cover- 

15  ing  above  of  badgers'  skins  [of  seal-skins  above].     And  thou  shalt  make  boards 

16  [the  boards]  for  the  tabernacle  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood  standing  up.  Ten  cubits 
shall  be  the  length  of  a  board,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  «Aa/^  be  the  breadth  of  one 

17  [each]  board.  Two  tenons  shall  there  be  in  one  [each]  board,  set  in  order  one 
against  [equally  distant  from  one]  another :  thus  shalt  thou  make  for  [do  unto]  all 

18  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle.     And  thou  shalt  make  the  boards  for  the  tabernacle, 

19  twenty  boards  on  [for]  the  south  side  southward.  And  thou  shalt  make  forty 
sockets  of  silver  under  the  twenty  boards  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board  for  his  [its] 

20  two  tenons,  and  two  sockets  under  another  board  for  his  [its]  two  tenons.  And  tor 
the  second  side  of  the  tabernacle  on  [for]  the  north  side  there  shall  be  twenty 

21  boards  :     And  their  forty  sockets  of  silver  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board,  and  two 

22  sockets  under  another  board.     And  for  the  sides  [rear]  of  the  tabernacle  westward 

23  thou  shalt  make  six  boards.     And  two  boards  shalt  thou  make  for  the  corners  of 

24  the  tabernacle  in  the  two  sides  [in  the  rear].  And  they  shall  be  coupled  together 
[be  double]  beneath,  and  they  shall  be  coupled  together^  above  the  head  of  it  unto 

'  [XX'NT  24.    The  A.  T.  rendering  (favored  also  by  Kalisch,  Gesenius,  Glaire,  Do  Wette,  Furst,  and  Canon  Cook)  assumes 


EXODUS. 


one  ring  [and  togetlier  they  shall  be  whole  up  to  the  top  of  it,  unto  the  first  ring] : 

25  thus  shall  it  be  for  them  both  ;  they  shall  be  for  the  two  corners.  And  they  [there] 
shall  be  eight  boards,  and  their  sockets  of  silver,  sixteen  sockets  ;  two  sockets  under 

26  one  board  and  two  sockets  under  another  board.     And  thou  shalt  make  bars  of 

27  shittim  [acacia]  wood  ;  five  for  the  boards  of  the  one  side  of  the  tabernacle.  And 
five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  other  side  of  the  tabernacle,  and   five  bars  for  the 

28  boards  of  the  side  of  the  tabernacle,  for  the  two  sides  [the  rear]  westward.  And  the 
middle  bar  in  the  midst  [middle]  of  the  boards  .shall  reach   [pass  through]  from 

29  end  to  end.     And  thou  shalt  overlay  the  boards  with  gold,  and  make  their  rings  of 

30  gold /or  places  for  the  bars :  and  thou  shalt  overlay  the  bars  with  gold.  And  thou 
shalt  rear  [set]  up  the  tabernacle  according  to  the  fashion  thereof  which  was  [hath 
been]  shewed  thee  in  the  mount. 

5.   Tilt  Veil. 

31  And  thou  shalt  make  a  veil  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined 
linen  of  cunning  work :  with  cherubims  [linen :  with  cherubim,  the  work  of  a 

32  skilful  workman]  shall  it  be  made.  And  thou  shalt  hang  it  upon  four  pillars  of 
shittim    [acacia]    wood   overlaid  with  gold :    their  hooks   shall  be  of  gold,  upon 

33  four  sockets  of  silver.  And  thou  shalt  hang  up  the  veil  under  the  taches 
[clasps],  that  thou  mayest  bring  [and  shalt  bring]  in  thither  within  the  veil  the 
ark   of  the   testimony :    and   the   veil   shall   divide  unto  you  between  the  holy 

34  place  and  the  most  holy  [the  holy  of  holies].     And  thou  shalt  put  the  mercy -seat 

35  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony  in  the  most  holj  place  [holy  of  holies].  And  thou 
shalt  set  the  table  without  the  veil,  and  the  candlestick  over  against  the  table  on 
the  side  of  the  tabernacle  toward  the  south :  and  thou  shalt  put  the  table  on  the 

36  north  side.  And  thou  shalt  make  an  hanging  [a  screen]  for  the  door  of  the  tent, 
of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  twined  linen,  wrought  with  needle-work 

37  [the  work  of  the  embroiderer].  And  thou  shalt  make  for  the  hanging  [screen] 
five  pillars  of  shittim  [acacia]  %oood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold  ;  and  their  hooka 
shall  be  of  gold :  and  thou  shalt  cast  five  sockets  of  brass  for  them. 

6.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offering. 
Chap.  XXVII.  1.     And  thou  shalt  make  an  [the]  altar  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood, 
five  cubits  long,  and  five  cubits  broad  ;  the  altar  shall  be  four-square :  and  the 

2  height  thereof  shall  be  three  cubits.  And  thou  shalt  make  the  horns  of  it  upon  the 
four  corners  thereof:  his   [its]  horns  shall  be  of  the  same   [of  one  piece  with  it]  : 

3  and  thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  brass.  And  thou  shalt  make  his  [its]  jjans  [pots] 
to  receive  his  [to  take  away  its]  ashes,  and  his  [its]  shovels,  and  his  [its]  basins, 
and  his  [its]  fleshhooks,  and  his  [its]  firepans :  all  the  vessels  thereof  thou  shalt 

4  make  of  brass  [copper].  And  thou  shalt  make  for  it  a  grate  [grating]  of  network 
o/ brass  [copper]  ;  and  upon  the  net  shalt  thou  make  four  brazen  [copper]  rings  in 

5  [on]  the  four  corners  thereof.  And  thou  shalt  put  it  under  the  compass  of  the 
altar  beneath  [below,  under  the  ledge  of  the  altar],  that  the  net  may  be  even  to  the 

6  midst  [and  the  net  shall  reach  up  to  the  middle]  of  the  altar.  And  thou  shalt 
make  staves  for  the  altar,  staves  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlay  them  with 

7  brass  [copper].     And  the  staves  [staves  thereof]  shall  be  put  into  the  rings,  and 

8  the  staves  shall  be  upon  the  two  sides  of  the  altar,  to  bear  it  [in  bearing  it].  Hol- 
low with  boards  shalt  thou  make  it:  as  it  was  [hath  been]  shewed  thee  in  the  mount; 
so  shall  they  make  it. 

7.   The  Court. 

9  And  thou  shalt  make  the  court  of  the  tabernacle :  for  the  south  side  southward  there 
shall  be  hangings  for  the  court  o/ fine-twined  linen  of  an  hundred  [linen  a  hundred]  cu- 

10  bits  long  for  one  side  :  And  the  twenty  pillars  thereof  and  their  twenty  sockets  shall  be 

D'SO  'o  1>»  a  contracted  form  of  DTSN'n.  But  it  is  singular  (if  tljis  is  the  case)  that  both  forms  should  occur  in  the  sams 
Terse,  and  more  singular  still  that  there  should  bo  the  same  conjunction  of  the  two  forms  in  the  parallel  passage  xxxvi.  29. 
So  lone  as  at  the  best  the  obscurity  of  the  descriprion  is  not  relieved  by  such  an  assumption,  it  seems  much  more  reason- 
able to  take  Q'^in  in  its  natural  sense  of  "perfect,"  "whole,"  and  elucidate  the  meaning,  if  possible,  on  that  assump- 
tion.—Ta.J 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XSXI.  18. 


11  of  brass  [copper] ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  [rods]  shall  he  oj  silver.  And 
likewise  for  the  north  side  in  length  there  shall  be  hangings  of  an  hundred  [hangings 
a  hundred]  cubits  long,  and  his  [its]  twenty  pillars  and  their  twenty  sockets  of  brass 

12  [copper]  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  [rods]  of  silver.  And  for  the 
breadth  of  the  court  on  the  west  side  shall  be  hangings  of  fifty  cubits  [hangings  fifty 

13  cubits  long]  :  their  pillars  ten,  and  their  sockets  ten.     And  the  breadth  of  the  court 

14  on  the  east  side  eastward  shall  be  fifty  cubits.  The  hangings  of  one  side  of  the  gate 
shall  be  fifteen  cubits  [Fifteen  cubits  of  hangings  shall  be  on  one  side  of  the  gate}  : 

15  their  pillars  three,  and  theii-  sockets  three.  And  on  the  other  side  shall  be  hangings 
fifteen  cubits  [fifteen  cubits  of  hangings]  :  their  pillars  three,  and  their  sockets  three. 

16  And  for  the  gate  of  the  court  shall  be  an  hanging  [a  screen]  of  twenty  cubits,  of 
blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine-twined  linen,  wrought  with  needle-work 
[linen,  embroidered  work] :  and  their  pillars  shall  be  four,  and  their  sockets  four. 

17  All  the  pillars  round  about  the  court  [of  the  court  round  about]  shall  be  filleted 
with  silver  [joined  with  rods  of  silver] ;  their  hooks  shall  be  of  silver,  and  their 

18  sockets  of  brass  [copper].  The  length  of  the  court  shall  be  an  [a]  hundred  cubits, 
and  the  breadth  fifty  everywhere,  and  the  height  five  cubits,  of  fine-twined  linen, 

19  and  their  sockets  of  brass  [copper].  All  the  vessels  [furniture]  of  the  tabernacle 
in  all  the  service  thereof,  and  all  the  pins  thereof,  and  all  the  pins  of  the  court  shall 
be  of  brass  [copper]. 

III.  The  Persons  and  Things  occupying  the  Building.     The  Ritual  Worship. 
1.   The  Oil  for  the  Lamp. 

20  And  thou  shalt  command  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  bring  thee  pure  oil  olive 
beaten  [beaten  olive  oil]  for  the  light,  to  cause  the  [a]  lamp  to  burn  always  [conti- 

21  nually].  In  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting]  without  the  veil, 
which  is  before  the  testimony,  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  order  [trim]  it  from  evening 
to  morning  before  Jehovah :  it  shall  be  a  statute  forever  unto  [throughout]  th§ir 
generations  on  the  behalf  of  [on  the  part  of]  the  children  of  Israel. 

2.   The  Clothing  of  the  Priest  and  of  his  Sacerdotal  Assistants. 

Chap.  XXVIII.  1  And  take  thou  [bring  thou  near]  unto  thee  Aaron  thy  brother, 
and  his  sons  with  him,  from  among  the  children  of  Israel,  that  he  may  minister 
unto  me  in  the  prie.st's  office  [that  he  may  be  a  priest  unto  me],  even  Aaron,  Nadab 

2  and  Abihu,  Eleazar  and  Ithamar,  Aaron's  sons.    And  thou  shalt  make  holy  [sacred] 

3  garments  for  Aaron  thy  brother  for  glory  [honor]  and  for  beauty.  And  thou  shalt 
speak  unto  all  timt  are  wise-hearted  [all  the  skilful-hearted],  whom  I  have  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  wisdom  [skill],  that  they  may  make  Aaron's  garments  to  conse- 
crate [sauctif)']  him,  that  he  may  minister  unto  me  in  the  priest's  office  [that  he 

4  may  be  a  priest  unto  me].  Antl  these  are  the  garments  which  they  shall  make : 
a  breastplate,  and  an  ephod,  and  a  robe,  and  a  broidered  [checkered]  coat,  a  mitre 
[turban],  and  a  girdle:  and  they  shall  make  holy  [sacred]  garments  for  Aaron  thy 
brother,  and  [and  for]  his  sons,  that  he  may  minister  unto  me  in  the  priest's  office 

5  [that  he  may  be  a  priest  unto  me].     And  thev  shall  take  gold,  and  blue,  and  purple, 

6  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen.  And  they  shall"  make  the  ephod  of  gold,  of  blue,  and 
o/ purple,  o/ scarlet,  and  fine-twined  linen,  with  cunning  work  [linen,  the  work  of  a 

7  skilful  weaver].  It  shall  have  the  two  shoulder-pieces  thereof  joined  at  [have  two 
shoulder-pieces  joined  to]  the  two  edges  thereof:  and  so  it  [and  it]  shall  be  joined 

8  together.  And  the  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod  [the  embroidered  belt  for  girding 
it],  which  is  upon  it,  shall  be  of  the  same  [same  piece],  according  to  the  work  thereof; 

9  even  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine-twined  linen.  And  thou  shalt 
take  twoonyx  stones  and  grave  [engrave]  on  them  the  names  of  the  children  of 

10  Israel:  Six  of  their  names  on  one  stone,  and  the  other  six  names  of  the  rest  [and  the 

11  names  of  the  six  remaining  ones]  on  the  other  stone,  according  to  their  birth.  With 
the  work  of  an  engraver  in  stone,  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  shalt  thou  engrave 
the  two  stones  with  [according  to]  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel :  thou  shalt 

12  make  them  to  be  set  [inclosed]  in  ouches  [settings]  of  gold.    And  thou  shalt  put 


108  EXODUS. 

the  two  stones  upon  the  shoulders  [shoulder-pieces]  of  the  ephod  for  stones  of  memo- 
rial unto  [as  memorial  stones  for]  the  children  of  Israel :  and  Aaron  shall  bear 

13  their  names  before  Jehovah  upon  his  two  shoulders  for  a  memorial.     And  thou  shalt 

14  make  ouches  [settings]  of  gold ;  And  two  chains  of  pure  gold  at  the  ends ;  of  wreathea 
work  shalt  thou  make  them  [pure  gold;  like  cords  shalt  thou  make  them,  of 
wreathen  work] :  and  fasten  [and  thou  shalt  put]  the  wreathen  chains  to  the  ouches 

15  [on  the  settings].  And  thou  shalt  make  the  breastplate  of  judgment,  with  cunning 
work  [the  work  of  a  skilful  weaver] ;  after  [like]  the  work  of  the  ephod  thou  shalt 
make  it ;  of  gold,  of  blue,  and  of  purple,  and  of  scarlet,  and  of  fine  twined  linen,  shalt 

16  thou  make  it.    Four  square  it  shall  be  being  doubled  [It  shall  be  sqi:are  and  double]  ; 

17  a  span  shall  be  the  length  thereof,  and  a  span  shall  be  the  breadth  thereof.  And 
thou  shalt  set  in  it  settings  of  stones,  even  four  rows  of  stones :  the  first  row  shall  be 
a  .sardius,  a  topaz,  and  a  carbuncle:  this  sJiall  be  [stones:  a  row  of  sardius,  topaz, 

18  and  emerald  shall  be]  the  first  row.     And  the  second  row  shall  be  an  emerald,  [car- 

19  buncle],  a  sapphire,  and  a  diamond.     And  the  third  row  a  ligure,  an  agate,  and  an 

20  amethyst.     And  the  fourth  row  a  beryl   [chrysolite],  and  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper: 

21  they  shall  set  in  gold  in  their  inclosings.  And  the  stones  shall  be  with  [according 
to]  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel,  twelve,  according  to  their  names,  like 
[names:  likel  the  engravings  of  a  signet;  every  [signet,  every]  one  with  [according 

22  to]  his  name  shall  they  be  according  to  [be  for]  the  twelve  tribes.  And  thou  shalt 
make  upon  the  breast-plate  chains  at  the  ends  [like  cords]  o/ wreathen  work  o/pure 

23  gold.     And  thou  shalt  make  upon  the  breast-plate  two  rings  of  gold,  and  shalt  put 

24  the  two  rings  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breast-plate.  And  thou  shalt  put  the  two  wreathen 

25  chains  of  gold  in  [on]  the  two  rings  which  are  on  the  ends  of  the  breast-plate.  And 
the  other  two  ends  of  the  two  wreathen  chains  thou  shalt  fasten  in  the  two  ouches  [put 
on  the  two  settings],  and  put  them  on  the  shoulder-pieces  of  the  ephod  before  it  [on 

26  the  front  of  it].  And  thou  shalt  make  two  rings  of  gold,  and  thou  shalt  put  them 
upon  the  two  ends  of  the  breast-plate,  in  [on]  the  border  thereof  which  is  in  [to- 

27  ward]  the  side  of  the  ephod  inward.  And  two  oi/ier  rings  of  gold  thou  shalt  make, 
and  .shalt  put  them  on  the  two  sides  [shoulder-pieces]  of  the  ephod  underneath,  to- 
ward [on]  the  fore-part  thereof,  over  against  [close  by]  the  other  coupling  [the  cou- 
pling] thereof,  above  the  curious  girdle  of  the  ephod  [the  embroidered   belt   of  the 

28  ephod].  And  they  shall  biud  the  breast-plate  by  the  rings  thereof  unto  the  rings 
of  the  ephod  with  a  lace  [cord]  of  blue,  that  it  may  be  above  the  curious  girdle  [the 
embroidered  belt]  of  the  ephod,  and  that  the  breast-plate  be  not  loosed  from  the 

29  ephod.  And  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  breast- 
plate of  judgment  upon  his  heart,  when  he  goeth  in  unto  the  holy  jylace,  for  a  me- 

30  morial  before  Jehovah  continually.  And  thou  shalt  put  in  the  breast-plate  of 
judgment  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim  ;  and  they  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  heart,  when 
he  goeth  in  before  Jehovah  :  and  Aaron  shall  bear  the  judgment  of  the  children  of 

31  Israel  upon  his  heart  before  Jehovah  continually.     And  thou  shalt  make  the  robe 

32  of  the  ephod  all  of  blue.  And  there  shall  be  an  hole  in  the  top  of  it,  in  the  midst 
thereof  [And  its  opening  for  the  head  shall  be  in  the  middle  of  it] :  it  shall  have  a 
binding  of  woven  work  round  about  the  hole  of  it  [its  opening],  as  it  were  the  hole 

33  of  an  habergeon  [like  the  opening  of  a  coat  of  mail],  that  it  be  not  rent.  And  be- 
neath upon  [And  upon]  the  hem  of  it  [its  skirts]  thou  shalt  make  pomegranates  of 
blue,  and  o/ purple,  and  o/ scarlet,  round  about  the  hem  [skirts]  thereof;  and  bells 

34  of  gold  between  them  round  about:  A  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a  golden  bell 

35  and  a  pomegranate,  upon  the  hem  [skirts]  of  the  robe  round  about.  And  it  shall 
be  upon  Aaron  to  minister  [for  ministering]:  and  his  sound  [the  sound  thereof] 
shall  be  heard  when  he  goeth  in  unto  [goeth  into]  the  holy  place  before  Jehovah, 

36  and  when  he  cometh  out,  that  he  die  not.  And  thou  shalt  make  a  plate  q/  pure 
gold,  and  grave  [engrave]  upon  it,  like  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  HOLl^ESb 

37  TO  JEHOVAH.  And  thou  shalt  put  it  on  a  blue  lace  [cord],  that  it  may  be 
[and  it  shall  be]  upon  the  mitre  [turban]  ;  upon  the  forefront  [front]  of  the  mitre 

38  [turban]  it  shall  be.  And  it  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  forehead,  that  Aaron  may  [and 
Aaron  shall]  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  holy  [.«acred]  things,  which  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  hallow  in  all  their  holy  [sacred]  gifts ;  and  it  shall  be  always  upon  his 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI. 


39  forehead,  that  they  may  be  accepted  before  Jehovah.  And  thou  shalt  embroider 
[weave]  the  coat  of  fiae  liueu,  and  thou  shalt  make  the  mitre  [turban]  of  fine  linen, 

40  and  thou  shalt  make  the  [a]  girdle  of  needle-work  [embroidered  work].  And  for 
Aaron's  sons  thou  shalt  make  coats,  and  thou  shalt  make  for  them  girdles,  and 

41  bonnets  [caps]  shalt  thou  make  for  them,  for  glory  [honor]  and  for  beauty.  And 
thou  shalt  put  them  upon  Aaron  thy  brother,  and  his  sons  with  him;  and  shalt  an- 
oint them,  and  consecrate  [ordain]  them,  and  sanctify  them,  that  they  may  minister 

42  unto  me  in  the  priest's  office  [and  they  shall  be  priests  unto  me].  And  thou  shalt 
make  them  linen  breeches  to  cover  their  [the  flesh  of  their]  nakedness;  from  the 

43  loins  even  unto  [loins  unto]  the  thighs  they  shall  reach:  And  they  shall  be  upon 
Aaron,  and  upon  his  sons,  when  they  come  in  unto  [come  into]  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  or  when  they  come  near  unto  the  altar  to  minis- 
ter in  the  holyp^ace;  that  they  bear  not  iniquity,  and  die:  it  sltall  be  a  statute  for 
ever  unto  him  and  his  [and  unto  his]  seed  after  him. 

3.   The  Comecraiion  of  the  Priests. 

Chap.  XXIX.  1    And  this  is  the  thing  that  thou  shalt  do  unto  them  to  hallow  them,  to 

2  minister  unto  me  in  the  priests'  office  [to  be  priests  unto  me]  :  Take  one  young  bul- 
lock, and  two  rams  without  blemish,  and  unleavened  bread,  and  cakes  unleavened 
tempered  [mingled]  with  oil,  and  wafers  unleavened  anointed  with  oil :  of  wheaten 

3  flour  shalt  thou  make  them.     And  thou  shalt  put  them  into  one  basket,  and  bring 

4  them  in  the  basket,  with  the  bullock  and  the  two  rams.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons 
thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meet- 

5  ing],  and  shalt  wash  them  with  water.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  garments,  and  put 
upon  Aaron  the  coat,  and  the  robe  of  the  ephod,  and  the  ephod,  and  the  breast- 

6  plate,  and  gird  him  with  the  curious  girdle  [embroidered  belt]  of  the  ephod.  And 
thou  shalt  put  the  mitre  [turban]  upon  his  head,  and  put  the  holy  crown  upon  the 

7  mitre  [turban].    Then  shalt  thou  [And  thou  shalt]  take  the  anointing  oil,  and  pourt< 

8  upon  his  head,  and  anoint  him.     And  thou  shalt  bring  his  sons,  and  put  coats  upon 

9  them.  And  thou  shalt  gird  them  with  girdles,  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  put  the  bonnets 
[bind  caps]  on  them:  and  the  priests'  office  [priesthood]  shall  be  theirs  for  [by]  a 

10  perpetual  statute:  and  thou  shalt  consecrate  Aaron  and  his  sons.  And  thou  shalt 
cause  a  bullock  to  be  brought  [bring  the  bullock]  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation [tent  of  meeting]  :  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  put  their  hands  upon 

11  the  head  of  the  bullock.     And  thou  shalt  kill  the  bullock  before  Jehovah,  hy  the 

12  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting].  And  thou  shalt  take 
of  the  blood  of  the  bullock,  and  put  it  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  with  thy  finger, 

13  and  pour  all  the  blood  beside  the  bottom  [at  the  base]  of  the  altar.  And  thou 
shalt  take  all  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  that  is  above  [lobe 
above]  the  liver,  and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them,  and  burn  them 

14  upon  the  altar.    But  the  flesh  of  the  bullock,  and  his  skin,  and  his  dung,  shalt  ihou 

15  burn  with  fire  without  the  camp:  it  w  a  sin-offering.  Thou  shalt  also  take  one 
[the  one]  ram ;  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  put  [lay]  their  hands  upon  the  head 

16  of  the  ram.     And  thou  shalt  slay  the  ram,  and  thou  shalt  take  his  blood,  and  spiinkle 

17  it  round  about  upon  the  altar.  And  thou  shalt  cut  the  ram  in  pieces,  and  wash 
the  inwards  of  him  [his  inwards],  and  his  legs,  and  put  them  unto  his  pieces,  and 

18  unto  his  head.  And  thou  shalt  burn  the  whole  ram  upon  the  altar:  it  is  a  burnt- 
offering  unto  Jehovah :  it  m  a  sweet  savor,  an  offering  made  by  fire  [a  fire-oft'eriug] 

19  unto  Jehovah.     And  thou  shalt  take  the  other  ram;  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall 

20  put  [lay]  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  ram.  Then  shalt  thou  kill  the  ram,  and 
take  of  his  blood,  and  put  it  upon  the  tip  of  the  right  ear  of  Aaron,  and  upon  the 
tip  of  the  right  ear  of  his  sons,  and  upon  the  thumb  of  their  right  hand,  and  upon 
the  great  toe  of  their  right  foot,  and  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the  altar  round  about. 

21  And  thou  shalt  take  of  the  blood  that  is  upon  the  altar,  and  of  the  anointing  oil,  and 
sprinkle  it  upon  Aaron,  and  upon  his  garments,  and  upon  his  sons,  and  upon  the  gar- 
ments of  his  sons  with  him :  and  he  shall  be  hallowed,  and  his  garments,  and  his  sons,  and 

22  his  sons'  garments  with  him.  Also  thou  shalt  take  of  the  ram  the  fat  and  the  rump  [the 
fat  tail],  and  the  fat  that  covereth  the  inwards,  and  the  caul  above  [lobe  of]  the  liver, 


and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  upon  them,  and  the  right  shoulder ;  for  it 

23  is  a  ram  of  consecration :  And  one  loaf  of  bread,  and  one  cake  of  oiled  bread,  and  one 

24  wafer  outofthe  basket  of  the  unleavened  bread  that  is  before  Jehovah:  And  thou  shalt 
put  all  [the  whole]  in  the  hands  of  Aaron,  and  in  the  hands  of  his  sons ;  and  shalt 

25  wave  them  for  a  wave-ofiering  before  Jehovah.  And  thou  shalt  receive  [take]  them 
of  [from]  their  hands,  and  burn  them  upon  the  altar  for  a  [upon  the]  burnt-offering, 
for  a  sweet  savor  before  Jehovah  :  it  is  an  offering  made  by  fire  [a  fire-offering]  unto 

26  Jehovah.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  breast  of  the  ram  of  Aaron's  consecration  [of 
Aaron's  ram  of  cousecration],  and  wave  it  for  [as]  a  wave-offering  before  Jehovah : 

27  and  it  shall  be  thy  part.  And  thou  shalt  sanctify  the  breast  of  the  wave-offering, 
and  the  shoulder  of  the  heave-offering,  which  is  waved,  and  which  is  heaved  uji,  of 
the  ram  of  the  [of]  consecration,  even  of  that  which  is  for  Aaron,  and  of  that  which 

28  is  for  his  sons :  And  it  shall  be  Aaron's  and  his  sons'  by  a  statute  for  ever  from  the 
children  of  Israel ;  for  it  is  an  [a]  heave-offering :  and  it  shall  be  an  [a]  heave-offering 
from  the  children  of  Israel  of  the  sacrifice  of  their  [Israel  of  their]  peace-offerings, 

29  even  their  heave-offering  unto  Jehovah.     And  the  holy  garments  of  Aaron  shall  be 

30  his  sons'  after  him,  to  be  anointed  therein,  and  to  be  consecrated  in  them.  And 
that  son  that  is  priest  in  his  stead  shall  put  them  on  seven  days  [Seven  days  shall 
he  of  his  sons  who  is  priest  in  his  stead  put  them  on],  when  he  cometh  into  the  ta- 

31  bernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  cf  meeting]  to  minister  in  the  ho\j  place.  And 
thou  shalt  take  the  ram  of  the  [of]  consecration,  and  seethe  [boil]  his  flesh  in  the 

32  [a]  holy  place.  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  the  ram,  and  the 
bread  that  is  in  the  basket,  by  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent 

33  of  meeting].  And  they  shall  eat  those  things  wherewith  the  [wherewith]  atonement 
was  made,  to  consecrate  and  to  sanctify  them;  but  a  stranger  shall  not  eat  thereof, 

34  because  they  are  holy.  And  if  aught  of  the  flesh  of  the  consecrations  [consecration], 
or  of  the  bread,  remain  unto  [until]  the  morning,  then  thou  shalt  burn  the  re- 

35  mainder  with  fire:  it  shall  not  be  eaten,  because  it  is  holy.  And  thus  shalt  thou 
do  unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons,  according  to  all  things  which  [all  that]  I  have 
commanded  thee :  seven  days  shalt  thou  consecrate  them. 

4.   Consecration  and  Design  of  the  Altar  of  Burnt-offering. 

36  And  thou  shalt  offer  every  day  a  bullock  for  a  sin-offering  for  atonement :  and 
thou  shalt  cleanse  the  altar,  when  thou  hast  made  an  [by  making]  atonement  for 

37  it,  and  thou  shalt  anoint  it,  to  sanctify  it.  Seven  days  thou  shalt  make  an  [make] 
atonement  for  the  altar,  and  sanctify  it;  and  it  shall  be  an  altar  most  holy  :  what- 

38  soever  toucheth  the  altar  shall  be  holy.  Now  this  is  that  which  thou  shalt  offer 
upon  the  altar :  two  lambs  of  the  first  year  [a  year  old]  day  by  day  continually. 

39  The  one  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  in  the  morning ;  and  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  offer 

40  at  even :  And  with  the  one  lamb  a  tenth  deal  [part]  of  flour  mingled  with  the 
fourth  part  of  an  [a]  hin  of  beaten  oil ;  and  the  fourth  part  of  an  [a]  hin  of  wine 

41  for  a  drink-offering.  And  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  at  even,  and  shalt  do 
thereto  according  to  the  meat-offering  of  [shalt  offer  with  it  the  same  meal-offering 
as  in]  the  morning,  and  according  to  the  drink-offering  thereof  [and  the  same  drink- 
offering],  for  a  sweet  savor,  an  offering  made  by  fire  [a  fire-offering]  unto  Jehovah. 

42  Tltis  shall  be  a  continual  burnt-offering  throughout  your  generations  at  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting]  before  Jehofah;  where  I  will 

43  meet  [meet  with]  you,  to  speak  there  unto  thee.     And  there  I  will  meet  with  the 

44  children  of  Israel,  and  the  tabernacle  [and  it]  shall  be  sanctified  by  my  glory.  And 
I  will  sanctify  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  and  the  altar : 
I  will  sanctify  also  both  Aaron  and  his  sons,  to  minister  to  me  in  the  priest's  office 

45  [to  be  priests  unto  me].     And  I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  be 

46  their  God.  And  they  shall  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  their  God,  that  brought  them 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  that  I  may  [might]  dwell  among  them :  I  am  Jeho- 
vah their  God. 

5.  The  Altar  of  Incense. 

Chap.  XXX.  1.    And  thou  shalt  make  an  altar  to  burn  incense  upon:   of  shittim 
2  [acacia]  wood  shalt  thou  make  it.     A  cubit  shall  be  the  length  thereof,  and  a  cubit 


CUAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18.  Ill 

the  breadth  thereof;  four-square  shall  it  be :  and  two  cubits  shall  he  the  height 

3  thereof:  the  horns  thereof  shall  be  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it].  And  thou 
shalt  overlay  it  with  pure  gold,  the  top  thereof,  and  the  sides  thereof  round  about, 
and  the  horns  thereof;  and  thou  shalt  make  uuto  [for]  it  a  crown  of  gold  round 

4  about.  And  two  golden  rings  shalt  thou  make  to  [for]  it  under  the  crown  of  it, 
by  the  two  corners  [upon  the  two  tJanks]  thereof,  upon  the  two  sides  of  it  shalt  thou 

5  make  it;  and  they  shall  be  for  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  it  withal  [with].  And 
thou  shalt  make  the  staves  oj  shittim  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlay  them  with  gold. 

6  And  thou  shalt  put  it  bef  jre  the  veil  that  is  by  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  before  the 

7  mercy-seat  that  is  over  the  testimony,  where  I  will  meet  with  thee.  And  Aaron 
shall  burn  thereon  sweet  incense  every  morning:  when  he  dresseth  [trimmeth]  the 

8  lamps,  he  shall  burn  incense  upon  it.  And  when  Aaron  lighteth  [setteth  up]  the 
lamps  at  even,  he  shall  burn  incense  upon  it  [burn  it],  a  perpetual  incense  befoi'e 

9  Jehovah  throughout  your  generations.  Ye  shall  offer  no  strange  incense  thereon, 
nor  burnt-sacrifice  [burnt-offering],  nor  meat-offering  [meal-offering]  ;  neither  shall 

10  ye  pour  [and  ye  shall  pour  no]  drink-offering  thereon.  And  Aaron  shall  make  an 
[make]  atonement  upon  [for]  the  horns  of  it  once  in  a  [the]  year  with  the  blood  of 
the  sin-offering  of  atonements:  once  in  the  year  shall  he  make  atonement  upon  [for] 
it  throughout  your  generations:  it  is  most  holy  unto  Jehovah. 

6.   The  Contributions  for  the  Sanctuary  {Poll-tax). 

11,  12  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  saymg.  When  thou  takest  the  sum  of  the 
children  of  Israel  after  [according  to]  their  number,  then  shall  they  give  every  man 
a  ransom  for  his  soul  unto  Jehovah,  when  thou  numberest  them ;  that  there  be"  [may 

13  be]  no  plague  among  them,  when  thou  numberest  them.  This  they  shall  give,  every 
one  that  pa.sseth  among  [over  unto]  them  that  are  numbered,  half  a  shekel  after 
[according  to]  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary :  (a  shekel  is  twenty  gerahs) :  an  [a]  half 

14  shekel  shall  be  the  offering  of  [unto]  Jehovah.  Every  one  that  passeth  among 
[over  unto]  them  that  are  numbered,  from  twenty  years  old  and  above,  shall  give 

15  an  offering  unto  Jehovah  [Jehovah's  offering].  The  rich  shall  not  give  more,  and 
the  poor  shall  not  give  less  than  half  a  [the  half]  shekel,  when  they  give  an  offer- 
ing unto  Jehovah  [give  Jehovah's  offering],  to  make  an  [make]  atonement  for  your 

16  souls.  And  thou  shalt  take  the  atonement  money  of  [from]  the  children  of  IsTael, 
and  shalt  appoint  it  for  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of 
meeting]  ;  that  it  may  be  [and  it  shall  be]  a  memorial  unto  [for]  the  children  of 
Israel  before  Jehovah,  to  make  an  [make]  atonement  for  your  souls. 

7.   The  Laver. 

17,  18  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Thou  shalt  also  make  a  laver  of  brass 
[copper],  and  his  foot  also  of  brass  [its  base  of  copper],  to  wash  withal  [in]:  and 
thou  shalt  put  it  between  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting]  and 

19  the  altar,  and  thou  shalt  put  water  therein.     For  Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  wash 

20  their  hands  and  their  feet  thereat  [from  it]  :  When  they  go  into  the  tabernacle  of 
the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  they  shall  wash  with  water,  that  they  die  not ; 
or  when  they  come  near  to  the  altar  to  minister,  to  burn  offering  made  by  fire  [a 

21  fire-offering]  unto  Jehovah  :  So  they  shall  wash  their  hands  and  their  feet,  that  they 
die  not :  and  it  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  to  them,  even  to  him  and  to  his  seed 
throughout  their  generations. 

8.    The  ho!;/  Anointing  Oil. 

22,  23  Moreover  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Take  thou  also  unto  thee  prin- 
cipal spices  [the  chief  spices],  of  pure  [flowing]  myrrh  five  hundred  shekels,  and 
of  sweet  cinnamon  half  so  much,  even  two  hundred  and  fifty  sheMs,  and  of  sweet 

24  calamus  two  hundred  and  fifty  shekels,  And  of  cassia  five  hundred  shekels,  after  [ac- 

25  cording  to]  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  oil  olive  an  [olive  oil  a]  bin :  And  thou 
shalt  make  it  an  oil  of  holy  ointment  [a  holy  anointing  oil],  an  ointment  compound 
[compounded]  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary  [a  perfumed  ointment,  the  work  of  the 


23  perfumer]:  it  sliall  be  an  [a]  holy  anointing  oil.  And  thou  shalt  anoint  the 
tabernacle   of   the    congregation    therewith    [therewith    the    tent    of   meeting], 

27  and  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  And  the  table  and  all  his  vessels  [its  furniture], 
and    the   candlestick   and    his   vessels    [its   furniture]    and   the  altar  of  incense, 

28  And  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  with  all   his  vessels  [its  furniture],  and  the  layer 

29  and  his  foot  [its  base].     And  thou  shalt  sanctify  them,  that  they  may  be  most 

30  holy:  whatsoever  [whosoever]  toucheth  them  shall  he  holy.  And  thou  shalt 
anoint  Aaron  and   his   sons,   and  consecrate  them,  that  they  may  minister  unto 

31  me  in  the  priest's  office  [to  be  priests  unto  me].  And  thou  shalt  speak  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  saying,  This  shall  be  an  [a]  holy  anointing  od  unto  me  through- 

32  out  your  generations.  Upon  man's  flesh  shall  it  not  be  poured,  neither  shall  ye  make 
any  other  like  it,  after  the  composition  of  it  [and  ye  shall  make  none  like  it  with  its 

33  proportions] :  it  is  holy,  and  it  shall  be  holy  unto  you.  Whosoever  compoundeth  any 
like  it,  or  whosoever  jiutteth  any  of  it  upon  a  stranger,  shall  even  [he  shall]  be  cut 
off  from  his  people. 

9.  The  Incense. 

34  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte,  and  onycha, 
and  galbanum;  these  sweet  spices  with  pure  frankincense :  of  each  shall  there  be  a 

35  like  weight  [an  equal  part]  :  And  thou  shalt  make  it  a  perfume,  a  confection,  after 
the  art  of  the  apothecary,  tempered  together  [make  of  it  an  incense,  a  perfume,  the 

36  work  of  the  perfumer,  salted],  pure,  and  holy:  And  thou  shalt  beat  some  of  it  very 
small  [it  fine],  and  put  of  it  before  the  testimony  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega- 
tion [tent  of  meeting],  where  I  will  meet  with  thee:  it  shall  be  unto  you  most  holy. 

37  And  as  for  the  perfume  [And  the  incense]  which  thou  shalt  make,  ye  shall  not  make 
to  [for]  yourselves  according  to  the  composition  [with  its  proportions] :  it  shall  be 

38  unto  thee  holy  for  [unto]  Jehovah.  Whosoever  shall  make  [make  any]  like  unto 
that,  to  smell  thereto  [thereof],  shall  even  [he  shall]  be  cut  off  from  his  people. 

IV.  The  Architects.     The  Master-workman  Bezaleel  and  his  Vocation.     Sacred  Art. 
Chap.  XXXI.  1,  2.  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  See,  I  have  called  by 

3  name  Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah :  And  I  have 
filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  and  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge, 

4  and  in  all  manner  [kinds]  of  workmanship.  To  devise  cunning  [skilful]  works,  to 

5  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass  [copper].  And  in  cutting  of  stones,  to  set 
them  [stones  for  setting],  and  in  carving  of  timber,  to  work  in  all  manner  [kinds] 

6  of  workmanship.  And  I,  behold,  I  have  given  with  him  Aholiab,  the  son  of  Ahisa- 
mach,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan :  and  in  the  hearts  of  all  that  are  wise-hearted  I  have  put 

7  wisdom,  that  they  make  all  that  I  have  commanded  thee :  The  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  and  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  the  mercy-seat 

8  that  w  thereupon,  and  all  the  furniture  of  the  tabernacle  [tent],  And  the  table  and 
his  [its]  furniture,  and  the  pure  candlestick  with  all  his  [its]  fiirniture,  and  the  altar 

9  of  incense.  And  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  with  all  his  [its]  furniture,  and  the  layer 

10  and  his  f  )0t  [its  base].  And  the  cloths  [garments]  of  service,  and  theholygarmeutsfor 
Aaron  the  priest,  and  the  garments  of  his  .sons,  to  minister  in  the  priest's  office  [as 

11  priests],  And  the  anointing  oil,  and  sweet  incense  for  the  holy  place:  according  to 
all  that  I  have  commanded  thee  shall  they  do. 

V.  Tlie  Condition  of  the  Vitality  of  the  Ritual.     The  Sabbath. 
12,  13     And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Speak  thou  also  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  saying.  Verily  my  sabbaths  ye  shall  keep:  for  it  w  a  sign  between  me  and 
you  throughout  your  generations ;  that  ye  may  know  that  I  am  Jehovah  that  doth 

14  sanctify  you.  Ye  shall  keep  the  .sabbath  therefore  [And  ye  shall  keep  the  sabbath] ; 
for  it  w  holy  unto  you  :  every  one  that  defileth  [profaneth]  it  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death  :  for  whosoever  doeth  any  work  therein,  that  soul  shall  be  cutoff  from  among 

15  his  people.  Six  days  may  work  be  done;  but  in  [on]  the  seventh  is  the  [a]  sab- 
bath of  rest,  holy  to  Jehovah  :  whosoever  doeth  any  work  in  [on]  the  sabbath  day, 

16  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  Wherefore  the  children  of  Israel  shall  keep  the 
sabbath,  to  observe  the  sabbith  throu'.'hout  their  generations  for  [as]  a  perpetual 

17  covenant.     It  w  a  sign  between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel  for  ever:  lor  in  six 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI. 


days  Jehovah  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the  seventh  day  he  rested,  and  was 
18  refreshed.     And  he  gave  unto  Moses,  when  he  had  made  au  end  of  communing 
[speaking]  with  him  upon  mount  Sinai,  two  [the  two]  tables  of  [of  the]  testimony, 
tables  of  stone,  written  with  the  finger  of  God. 

Ena/kl.opaJie,  Art.  Sliftshiilte,  which  gives  a  con- 
densed view  of  all  the  opinions  and  conjectures 
which  have  been  propounded  respecting  its 
structure  and  significance.  The  lalest  mono- 
grams are:  Wilh.  Neumann,  Die  SUftshiilte  in 
Bild  und  Wort  gezeichnel,  Gotha,  18(il  (rich  in 
fantastic  hypotheses  derived  frnni  tlif  discoveries 
at  Nineveh),  niil  r.  J    H      -    ',,•:■     ,      ;■,■',« 

Vid.   Knobel,   i     i  ,  7,       r„|,' 

per,  Der  bih/,.-<i,     /;,  >         ',    ■■,.  , ,,-. 

(Leipzig,  1862).  WaiigeTii.nin,  /),,•  Iln!,'nlun<i  der 
Sliftsliiilte.  Wissenschafllicher  VortTag,  etc.  (Ber- 
lin. 1866).  Also  Winer's  Reallexicon  and  Zeller's 
BiUisckes  WoTterhiich.  [To  these  may  be  added, 
besides  Smith's  Bible  Diciionary  and  Kitto's  C.y- 
clopedia,  Kurtz,  Sacrificial  Offerings  of  the  0.  T.; 
Haneberg,  Die  religiusen  AUerthiimer  der  Bibel 
(Munich,  1869);  T.  0.  Paine,  Solomon's  Temple 
(Boston,  H.  H.  &  T.  W.  Carter,  1870);  and  E.  E. 
Atwater,  History  and  Significance  of  the  Sacred  Ta. 
bernacle  of  Ike  Hebrews  (Dodd  &  Mead,  Nl-w  York, 
1875j.— Tr.] 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

The  origin  of  the  tabernacle  is  twice  recorded 
in  Exodus:  first,  (considered  from  its  divine 
side)  as  a  command  of  God,  or  (considered  from 
its  human  side)  as  a  vision  or  ideal  (the  taber- 
nacle which  God  showed  Moses  on  the  mount), 
xxv.-xxxi. ;  secondly,  as  the  historical  fact  of 
the  execution  of  the  building  of  the  work  com- 
manded by  Jehovah,  but  interrupted  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  golden  calf,  xxxv.-xl. 

The  tabernacle  is  not  merely  a  place  of  wor- 
ship; but,  as  being  the  house  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  or  of  the  tables  of  the  law,  and  as  being 
the  hou'^e  of  the  Lord  of  the  covenant  who  mani- 
fests Himself  in  the  Holy  of  holies,  it  is  first  of 
all  the  centre  of  the  whole  legislation  and  the 
residence  of  the  lawgiver  Himself,  who  holds 
•  sway  between  the  cherubim  over  His  law,  and 
will  not  let  it  become  a  dead  ordinance,  but 
makes  sure  that  from  out  of  the  Holy  of  holies  it 
shall  grow  into  a  living  power.  Hence,  there- 
fore, the  history  of  this  institution  properly 
stands  in  Exodus,  not  in  Leviticus.  Jeliovali  has 
redeemed  His  people  out  of  the  house  of  bond- 
age, and  brouglit  them  to  His  holy  house,  which 
is  at  once  palace,  temple,  and  court-house,  or 
public  gathering-place — the  house  in  which  Je- 
hovah meets  with  His  people. 

The  tabernacle  has  been  called  a  nomadic  tem- 
ple. It  is  indeed  the  preliminary  form  of  the 
temple,  but  itself  continued,  after  the  people 
ceased  their  wanderings,  for  a  long  time  to 
change  its  location  in  Israel  until  Solomon's 
temple  was  built.  As  the  prototype  and  oppo- 
site of  garish  heathen  temples;  as  the  historical 
model  of  the  Israelitish  temple  iu  its  three  prin- 
cip.al  historical  forms  (temples  of  Solomon,  Ze- 
rubbabel,  and  Herod);  as  the  religious  nioilel, 
or  outline,  the  type  of  Christian  places  of  wor- 
ship; and  .as  the  symbol  of  the  proportions  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  both  outwardly  and  in- 
wardly considered;  accordingly,  as  tbe  funda- 
mental form  of  every  real  sanctuary,  the  taber- 
nacle preserves  an  imperishable  significance — 
almost  more  significant  in  its  naked  simplicity 
than  with  its  ornamentation  and  wealth.  When 
the  outward  glory  of  the  temple  is  gone,  God 
will  rebuild  the  tabernacle  of  David  (Amos  ix. 
11.  12). 

The  tabernacle  as  Moses'  idea,  which  indeed 
he  owes  to  divine  revelation,  characterizes  Moses 
as  also  a  great  and  original  man  in  Hebrew  art. 
Bezaleel  was  only  the  artist  or  master-workman 
who  carried  out  the  idea,  working  according  to 
Moses'  plan;  and  even  Michel  .\ngelo,  who  chi- 
selled the  figure  of  Moses,  worked,  as  architect, 
according  to  the  theocratic  outline  which  had 
been  introduced  into  the  world  through  Moses. 

Of  the  numerous  treatises  on  this  sanctuary 
oomp.  besides  Biihr  (Symbolik  des  viosaischen 
KullHS  I.  p.  53sqq.)  and  Keil  (Bibl.  Archiiolngie 
1,  g  17  sqq.),  especially  Leyrer  iu  Herzog's  Seal- 


External  Prerequisites.  Building  Materials. 
Assessments  for  the  Building.   Chap.  xxv.  1-9. 

a.  The  Divine  Side  of  (he  Dwelling. 

1.  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  with  the  Mercy- 
seat  and  the  Cherubim,  as  the  cliief  thing  in  the 
whole  Building,  vers.  10-22.  Object  of  it :  the 
continual,  living  Revelation  of  God.  Ver.  22. 
The  Holy  of  Holies. 

2.  The  Table  of  Shew-bread  (of  Communion 
with  God,  consecrated  to  God,  ver.  30),  and  the 
Candlestick  with  its  Appurtenances  (the  Divine 
Illumination  in  accordance  with  the  Ideal,  ver. 
40),  vers.  23-40. 

3.  The  Sanctuary.  Divine  and  Human.  The 
Tent,  or  the  Dwelling  itself,  chap.  xxvi.  1-30. 
Conformed  to  the  Ideal,  ver.  30. 

4.  The  Veil  to  distinguish  and  divide  the  Holy 
of  Holies  from  the  Sanctuary,  vers.  31-37. 

h.   The  Human  Side  of  the  Dwelling. 

1.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offering.  Chap,  xxvii. 
1-8.     Conformed  to  the  Ideal,  ver.  8. 

2.  The  Court,  vers.  9-19. 

c.  Functions  Connected  with  the  Building. 

1.  Bringing  of  the  holy  Oil,  and  the  Prepara- 
tion of  the  Candlestick,  vers.  20,  21. 

2.  Equipment  of  the  Priest,  the  High  priest 
and  his  Assistants,  chap,  xxviii.  1-43.  Object 
of  it,  vers.  3.5,  43. 

3.  Consecration  of  the  Priests  and  the  Sacrifi- 
cial Functions  of  the  Priest,  chap.  xxix.  1-46. 
Object,  vers.  43-46. 

4.  Altar  of  Incense,  and  its  Use,  chap.  xxx. 
1-10. 


lU 


5.  Assessment  for  the  Sanctuary  as  a  Continual 
Memorial  for  the  People,  vers.  11-16. 

6.  The  Brazen  Laver  in  the  Court  for  the  Priests 
to  wash  from,  vers.  17-21. 

7.  The  Anointing  of  the  Holy  Things.  The 
most  holy  Ointment,  vers.  22-33. 

8.  The  Most  Holy  Incense,  vers.  34-38. 

d.   The  Master-workmen. 

Chapter  xxxi.  1-11. 

Conclusion. — The  fundamental  condition  on 
which  the  meeting  between  Jehovah  and  His  peo- 
ple ideally  rests:  the  Sabbath,  vers.  12-17.  The 
addition  of  the  Directions  concerning  the  Taber- 
nacle to  the  completed  written  Law,  ver.  18. 


Foundation:  The  Sabbath  as  Prerequisite  to 
the  Tabernacle.  Chap.  xxxv.  1-3  (Chap.  xxxi. 
14-17). 

1.  The  Assessments  for  the  Building,  and  the 
Preparation  of  the  Material  made  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Master-workmen,  xxxv.  4 — xxxvi. 
7  (XXV.  1-9;   xxxi.  1-11). 

2.  The  Work  on  the  Dwelling,  xxxvi.  8-38 
(xxvi.  1-37). 

3.  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  the  Mercy-seat, 
and  the  Cherubim,  xxxvii.  1-9  (xxv.  10-22). 

4.  The  Table,  witb  its  Appurtenances,  xxxvii. 
10-16  (xxv.  2.3-30). 

5.  The  Candlestick,  xxxvii.  17-24  (xxv.  31- 
40). 

6.  The  Altar  of  Incense,  the  Incense,  and  the 
Anointing  Oil,  xxxvii.  25-29  (xxx.  1-10,  23-38). 

7.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offering,  xxxviii.  1-7 
(xxvii.  1-8). 

8.  The  Brazen  Laver,  and  the  Court,  xxxviii. 
8-20  (xxvii.  9-19). 

9.  The  Reckoning  of  the  Material  used,  xxxviii. 
21-31. 

10.  The  official  Garments  of  the  Priests,  xxxix. 
1-31  (xxviii.  1-43).  The  Consecration  of  the 
Priests,  and  the  Ordinance  of  the  Sacritices, 
xxix.  1-46. 

11.  The  Presentation  of  the  Constituent  Parts 
of  the  Dwelling,  xxxix.  32-43. 

12.  The  Erection  of  the  Dwelling,  and  the 
Heavenly  Consecration  of  it  by  means  of  the 
Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire,  the  Sign  of  the  Veiled 
Presence  of  the  Glory  of  the  Lord,  chap.  xl. 

Knobel  calls  attention  "  to  the  exact  reckoning 
in  xxxviii.  21  sqq.  and  the  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstantiality and  diffuseness  which  is  found  in 
no  other  narrator  to  the  same  degree.  So  ex- 
tended a  repetition  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in 
all  the  Old  Testament."  As  to  the  diffuseness, 
the  0.  T.  everywhere  gives  details  when  the 
Banctuary  is  concerned,  as  becomes  the  symboli- 
cal significance  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  religious 
spirit  of  the  Israelites,  vid.  1  Sam.  iv.-vii.;  1 
Kings  v.-ix.  15:  2  Kings  xii.;  2  Chron.  ii.-vii.; 
Ezek.  xl.-xlvii.;  the  whole  of  Ilaggai;  Zech.  iii., 
iv.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  here  in  every 
individual  feature  there  is  to  be  recognized  the 
reflection  of  a  religious  thought.  As  to  the  re- 
petition, however,  stress  is  to   be  laid  on  the  ge- 


neral consciousness  of  connection  between  ideal 
and  real  worship,  as  well  as  the  special  conscious- 
ness that  the  real  tabernacle  was  built  exactly 
according  to  the  idea  of  it.  Moreover,  the  se- 
cond account  is  not  a  mere  repetition  of  thefir.>;t. 
In  the  presentation  of  the  idea,  the  master-work- 
men come  at  the  end;  in  the  narrative  of  the  ac- 
tual erection  of  the  building,  at  the  beginning, — 
quite  in  accordance  with  the  relations  of  real 
life.  In  the  execution  of  the  work  of  the  taber- 
nacle the  sacerdotal  garments  are  described,  and 
even  the  calculation  of  the  cost  of  the  building — 
the  church  account,  so  to  speak.  So  the  denun- 
ciation of  a  severe  penalty  on  the  manufacture, 
for  private  use,  of  the  holy  anointing  oil  and  of 
the  incense,  is  one  of  the  means  used  to  prevent 
the  profanation  of  a  legally  prescribed  system  of 
worship.  Even  the  hinderance  in  the  execution 
of  the  work  prescribed  in  the  mount,  occasioned 
by  the  golden  calf,  is  not  without  meaning.  How 
often  it  is  a  golden  calf  which  hinders  the  execu- 
tion of  pure  ideal  ecclesiastical  conceptions! 
Here,  however,  is  everywhere  manifested  this 
feature  of  revelation,  that  the  idea  must  become 
fact,  and  that  the  fact  must  answer  to  the  idea. 

We  make  five  general  divisions  in  the  things 
commanded:  I.  The  Prerequisite — the  Materials. 

II.  The  Precept  concerning  the  Structure  itself. 

III.  The  Persons  and  Things  occupying  the  Build- 
ing. IV.  The  Architects  and  their  Work.  V. 
The  Condition  of  the  Vitality  of  the  Institution — 
the  Sabbath. 


As  the  real  temple  of  God  must  consist  in  be- 
lieving hearts  which  offer  themselves  and  build 
themselves  into  a  temple  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
so  the  typical  sanctuary  must  be  built  of  volun- 
tary offerings  of  the  people  of  God  :  "  Every  one 
whose  heart  mnketh  him  willing." 

On  the  assessments  for  the  building  (riMIR 
heave-offering),  the  blue  purple  (rh^J)),  the  pur- 
ple proper,  the  white  cloth  (tViJ/,  [i'lVGoc,  fine 
linen),  etc.,  comp.  Keil,  II.,  p.  163.  There  is  dis- 
pute concerning  the  Tahush  skins  (i^nri  accord- 
ing to  some,  the  seal ;  according  to  other.s,  the 
badger),  the  sliiltim  wood  (probably  acacia;  see 
Keil's  note,  p.  164),  the  Shoham  stone  (beryl,  or 
onyx),  the  garment  for  the  shoulder  (ephod),  and 
the  breastplate.  The  materials  were:  (l)Theme- 
tals.  Firf.Knob.,p.257.  Iron  came  into  use  later.* 
(2)  The  materials  for  cloths.  (3)  The  woven  fab- 
rics (brocades,  variegated  cloths,  plain  cloths). 
(4)  Skins.  (5)  Wood.  (6)  Oil.  (7)  Spices.  (8) 
Precious  stones.  These  materials  were  to  be  made 
into  the  sanctuary,  Jehovah's  dwelling-place,  in 
which  He  is  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  His  people, 
and  meet  with  them. — "According  to  all  that  I 
show  thee;"  not,  "have  shown  thee."  The  ideal 
significance  of  the  pattern  is  contested  by  Keil 
in  such  a  way  as  really  leaves  only  a  meaningless 
model  for  a  meaningless  structure;  though  after- 
wards this  view  is  modified,  II.,  p.  165. 


usp  of  irnn  is  ascribed  to 
instrumi-iits  .ire  rpterred  to 
;  of  I  be  IVcqUL-ut  meutiou  of 


CHAP.  XXV.  1-XXXI.  18. 


II.    THE    BDILDING    ITSELF.      CHAPTERS   XXV.  10 — 

xxvii.  19. 
1.  The  Ark.  Vers.  10-22. 
The  Holy  of  holies  in  the  strictest  sense — the 
essential,  principal  thing  in  it.  Three  items  are 
here  to  be  considered:  (1)  The  Ark;  (2)  The 
Mercy-seat;  (3)  The  Cherubim.  In  other  words: 
the  preservation  of  the  law  as  expressing  the 
divine  will  in  its  special  demands;  the  altar  in 
its  highest  form,  viz.,  the  mercy-seat  [happoreth), 
as  a  symbol  of  God's  gracious  willingness  to  ac- 
cept expiation  as  such  a  fulfilment  of  His  general 
will  as  covers  and  removes  the  demands  imposed 
by  the  law,  or  the  special  will,  on  account  of 
guilt ;  finally,  the  two  cherubim  as  symbols  of 
God's  righteous  dominion  in  the  world,  proceed- 
ing out  of  God's  gracious  will  and  the  law,  in 
order  to  the  maintenance  of  the  justice  which  is 
represented  by  the  union  of  the  ark  and  the 
cover  [the  mercy-seat].  The  whole  is  accord- 
ingly the  place  where  God  reveals  Himself  in 
His  glory  under  the  conditions  according  to 
which  the  high-priest  is  to  appear  before  Him. 
For  a  description  of  the  ark  vid.  Keil,  II.,  p.  107. — 
Why  are  the  tables  of  the  law  which  are  to  be 
put  in  it  called  the  testimony  (so  xxxi.  18;  xxxiv. 
29)?  Because  they  are  to  be  a  witness  of  the 
foundation  of  the  covenant  which  Jehovah  has 
made  with  Israel, — the  original  records,  there- 
fore, of  the  exact  phraseology  of  the  covenant. 
So,  too,  they  might  become  a  witness  for  Jeho- 
vah against  Israel.— Why  is  the  lid  called  H^bs? 
Certainly  not  simply  because  it  covers  the  ark. 
But  when  Keil  (p.  168)  denies  that  (he  religious 
significance  of  the  term  originated  with  that  of 
covering,  on  the  ground  that  this  older  meaning 
cannot  be  substantiated,  the  literal  sense  of 
133  in  Gen.  vi.  li  is  against  him;  and  when  in  1 
Chron.  xxviii.  11  the  Holy  of  holies  is  called 
n"'3|n  iT3,  that  may  indeed  not  mean  "lid- 
house,"  but  it  does  not  therefore  for  that  reason 
mean  house  of  expiation,  but  house  of  the  kappor- 
elh,  of  the  lid  of  expiation.  The  transition,  too, 
from  the  first  meaning  to  the  second  is  very  natu- 
ral. The  covering  up  of  the  demands  of  specific 
law  formulated  in  commandments,  and  the  cover- 
in<r  up  of  guilt  itself  are  reciprocal  notions.  The 
verb  "133,  when  relating  to  guilt,  is  construed  with 
the  Aocus.,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  38 ;  also  with  l^,  Jer.  xviii. 
23.  The  word  in  relation  to  persons  is  construed 
with  b,  with  S^',  and  with  1;?3,  all  in  the  general 
sense  of  "  for."  From  the  last  preposition  ["  in 
beh.alf  of"]  it  clearly  follows  that  the  senseless 
explanation  which  makes  133  denote  a  covering 
(concealing)  of  the  sinful  person  himself  from  the 
eyes  of  Jehovah,  an  explanation  which  aims  to 
invalidate  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  is  en- 
tirely untenable.  The  transaction  indicated  by 
133  is  performed  by  the  priest  both  on  the  part 
of  man  and  on  the  part  of  Jehovah.— Examples 
of  the  full  construction.  Lev.  v.  18;  iv.  26. — On 
the  i'/anri/piov  see  Commentary  on  Rom.  iii. — The 
symbol  of  the  cherubim  was  gradually  developed 
out  of  the  passage  Gen.  iii.  24 ;  vid.  Comm.  on 


Genesis,  p.  241.  Here  there  are  as  yet  only  two 
forms,  as  also  in  2  Chron.  iii.  13 ;  the  full  develop- 
ment is  found  in  the  symbol  of  Ezekiel,  ch.  i. 
From  Ezekiel  we  might  be  led  to  conjecture  that 
the  first  two  forms  were  the  face  of  a  man  and 
that  of  a  lion;  but  it  is  of  chief  importance  to 
maintain  that  the  central  thought  is  not  that  of 
representative  forms  of  animal  life,  but  only  of 
representative  mundane  forms  symbolizing  the 
divine  sovereignty  as  protecting  the  ark  of 
the  covenant;  they  are  forms  which  come  forth 
out  of  the  substance  of  the  mercy-seat.  On  these 
forms  see  Keil,  p.  168,  the  lexicons,  and  works 
on  archaeology.  On  the  staves  see  Knobel,  who 
without  reason  denies  that  by  "testimony"  the 
two  tables  are  meant.  These,  he  says,  were  al- 
ready prepared;  but  the  context  disproves  this. 
That  the  images  of  the  cherubim  are  to  be  con- 
ceived as  hollow,  does  not  agree  with  the  repre- 
sentation that  they  are  of  beaten  work,  of  one 
piece  with  the  mercy-seat. — -Finally,  the  tent 
under  the  designation  IJ-MD  bnx,  "  tent  of  meet- 
ing," means  somewhat  more  than  that  Jehovah 
therein  has  a  fixed  place  of  meeting  with  Moses 
and  Israel,  just  as  nnj,'n  '\3l^0  cannot  mean  ta- 
bernacle of  attestation,  i.  e.,  God's  place  of  reve- 
lation, but  tabernacle  of  the  testimony;  for  Jeho- 
vah's revelation  was  not  confined  to  this  place 
in  Israel. 

2.  The  Table.  Vers.  23-30. 
The  symbol  of  communion  between  Jehovah 
and  His  people.  See  Revelation  of  John.  On 
the  two  crowns  (rims)  of  the  table  see  Keil.  The 
vessels  belonging  to  the  table  were  plates  for  the 
shew-bread,  bowls  for  the  incense  (Lev.  xxiv.  7), 
pitchers  to  hold  the  wine,  and  goblets  for  the 
drink-offering. — The  "bread  of  the  face,"  or 
shew-bread,  is,  according  to  Keil,  "  symbol  of 
the  spiritual  food  which  Israel  was  to  produce," 
referring  to  John  vi.  27,  and  doubtless  also  to 
Hengsteuberg.  But  what  spiritual  food  was  Is- 
rael, according  to  John  vi.  27,  to  produce?  A 
food  which  the  Son  of  God  would  give  them,  the 
bread  which  came  from  heaven.  We  must  also 
avoid  confounding,  with  Keil,  the  shew-bread 
with  the  bloodless  ofi'erings,  vid.  Lev.  ii.  The 
shew-bread  was  one  of  the  permanent  institutions 
of  the  temple,  not  one  of  the  special  otlerings  of 
the  people.  "The  table,"  says  Knobel,  "stood 
in  the  holy  place  on  the  north  side  (xxvi.  35), 
while  the  candlestick  belonged  on  the  south  side 
(ver.  35),  and  the  altar  of  incense  in  the  mid- 
dle (XXX.  6)."  Archseological  observations  vid. 
in  his  Comm,  p.  266,  especially  on  the  dishes. 
On  the  use  to  which  the  pitchers  and  the  goblets 
or  bowls  were  put,  Keil  and  Knobel  come  to  op- 
posite conclusions,  the  latter  with  grammatical 
proofs.* 

3.  The  Oolden  Candlestick.  Vers.  31-40. 
First  is  to  be  considered  the  form  of  the  golden 
*  [Their  conclusions  are  different  only  as  regards  llie  PiVHp 
and  ri^nyr^,  Keil  making  the  first  mean  the  bowls  from 
which  the  wine  was  poured  out  as  a  drink-ofTering;  the  se- 
cond, the  iiitchers  in  which  the  wine  stood  on  the  table. 
Knobel  reverses  this  relation,  arguing  that  fi^pJO  is  derived 
from  TyTil.  to  pour  out.  TVitb  him  agree  Geseuius  and 
Furst-— Tr.]. 


candlesliok;  next,  its  use;  finally,  its  signifi- 
cance. The  candlestick  has  been  often  described 
and  pictured  (vid.  Thenius,  B'dcher  der  Kiiniye, 
Tab.  in.,  11).  Comp.  Winer,  RealUxicon ;  Zel- 
ler's  WorterOuck,  and  the  Commentaries.  [More 
especially,  Reland,  de  Spoliis  templi  Ilierosoh/mi- 
tani  in  arcu  Titia?io,  Tr.].  On  the  base,  which 
must  necessarily  have  had  feet,  stood  the  can- 
dlestick, first  as  a  single  thing.  It  extended 
upwards  in  the  form  of  a  middle  shaft,  which 
had  on  each  side  three  shafts  in  one  plane,  bend- 
ing around  iu  the  form  of  quarter-circles, — a 
unit,  therefore,  branching  out  into  the  sacred 
number,  seven. 


The  general  form  is  easily  pictured:  a  base;  a 
perpendicular  central  shaft,  the  trunk,  as  it  were, 
of  the  luminous  tree;  and  proceeding  out  of  it  at 
regular  distances  three  branches  on  either  side. 
The  description  is  made  obscure  or  difficult  by 
the  ornaments.  The  principal  feature  of  the 
ornamentation  is  the  almond-shaped  eup;  it  is 
divided  iuto  the  knob,  or  apple,  and  the  flower. 
The  main  shaft  has  four  such  cups;  out  of  the 
lowest  proceeds  the  shaft  itself,  as  well  as  the 
first  pair  of  branches.  Out  of  tlie  second  pro- 
ceeds the  second  pair  of  branches;  out  of  the 
third,  the  third  ;  its  fourth  cup  is  its  top.  The 
eix  branches,  or  side  shafts,  have  each  three 
cups.  The  one  forms  the  top;  the  second  may 
have  been  in  the  middle  of  the  curve  of  the 
branch;  the  third  seems  to  have  lain  against 
one  of  the  three  divisions,  or  cups,  of  the  main 
shaft.  The  seven  cups  which  form  the  top  stand 
in  a  horizontal  line;  the  lamps  are  set  up  into 
their  flowers.  But  the  explanations  of  the  diffi- 
cult passage  are  various.* 

But  the  mnin  shaft  is  distinguished  by  having 
four  cups.  So  the  one  unit  branches  into  the 
three,  the  three  into  the  seven,  and  the  seven 
into  the  twenty-two.  "  The  golden  candlestick 
was  placed  on  the  south  side  in  the  holy  place 
of  the  tabernacle.  For  the  south  is  the  direction 
from  which  the  light  comes,  and  is  therefore 
called  also  Dill.  The  seven  lamps  of  the  candle- 
stick  were  set  up  every  evening  at  the  time  of 
the  evening  incense  offering,  and  were  kept  burn- 
ing until  morning"  (Knobel).  Tliey  lighted  the 
whole  sanctuary,  but  cast  their  light  especially 


'  [Acconlin 


I  («.  ^.,  Pliilippson)  tlie  line  ( 
-med  rt  purvft,  not  a  straight  1 
hilt  tlio   .•rii;iili.-lit»l  1I..1X-1-S  « 


northwards  towards  the  altar  of  incense  and  the 
table  of  shew-bread ;  for  the  life  of  prayer  and 
the  communion  of  salvation  are  conditioned  on 
the  light  of  revelation,  enlightenment.  Keil's 
explanation  of  the  candlestick  is,  in  our  opinion, 
as  mistaken  as  that  of  the  table:  "  In  the  shining 
lamps,  as  receivers,  bearers  of  light,  Israel  is  to 
present  itself  continually  to  Jehovah  as  a  people 
that  lets  its  liglit  shine  in  the  niglit  of  this  world." 
Did  the  nocturnal  darkness  of  the  sanctuary 
symbolize  "the  night  of  this  world?"  Israel  is 
indeed  appointed  to  bear  light,  but  the  light 
which  it  is  to  diffuse  is  the  light  of  the  revela- 
lion  of  Jehovah,  and  the  bearers  of  the  light  are 
primarily  the  select  ones,  the  prophets  of  God. 
Keil  himself  urges  that  the  oil  is  a  symbol  of 
God's  Spirit,  as  also  the  olive-tree  described  iu 
Zeeh.  iv.,  and  the  seven  candlesticks  in  Rev.  i. 
-0.  The  significance  of  the  sacred  numbers,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  pure  gold,  is  obvious.  Oq 
llie  almond  flowers,  comp.  Keil  and  Knobel.  On 
the  appurtenances  of  the  candlestick  see  Knobel. 

4.    The  Tent,  or  the  Dwelling  itself.     Chap.  xxvi. 

1-3J. 

i.  The  Component  Parts  of  the  Tent  as  to  Form. 

a.  The  tent  itself.  (1)  Ten  curtains  of  byssus 
each  2S  cubits  long,  and  4  cubits  wide.  (2)  Fifty 
loops  to  each  curtain,  to  connect  together  five 
curtains.  (3)  Five  times  fifty  golden  clasps,  to 
connect  the  loops  * 

b.  The  covering  of  the  tent.  i?'irs<  covering)  of 
goats'  hair:  eleven  curtains,  each  30  cubits  long, 
and  4  cubits  wide,  divided  into  sets  of  5  and  6. 
For  them  50  [or  rather,  100]  loops  and  50  copper 
clasps.  One  curtain  is  folded  double  on  the  front 
side  of  the  tent.  The  surplus  cubits  hang  over  on 
the  two  sides.  A  similar  excess  hangs  over  on  the 
back  end  of  the  tent. — Second  covering,  rams' 
skins  dyed  red. — Third  covering,  the  outer  one, 
seal-skins. 

c.  The  supports  of  the  tent.  The  boards  of 
.Tcacia  wood.  Each  board  10  cubits  long,  IJ 
cubits  wide.  Two  tenons  in  each  board.  Twenty 
boards  on  the  south  side  resting  on  forty  silver 
sockets  (feel). — Twenty  boards  on  the  north  side 
with  the  same  number  of  sockets.  Six  boards 
for  the  rear.  Two  boards  for  the  corners  of  the 
rear.  In  addition,  the  bars  (cross-bars  or  con- 
necting bars),  5  for  each  side,  the  middle  one 
passing  the  whole  length  of  the  framework.  The 
liars  and  boards  gilt.  Also  the  rings  for  the 
bars.f 


curtain  wouli 


-Ta.] 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18. 


ii.  TheComponent  Parts  as  to  material.     Bys- 
6US,  linen,  goats' -liair,  and  the  two  kinds  of  skin. 
Acacia  wood,  gold,  silver,  copper. 

iii.  The  Colors.     Especially  significant.     The 
covering  proper  of  the  tent  contains  the  four  co- 
lors: while,  purplish-blue,  purplish-red,  crimson. 

being  40  cul, ■- 
30,  and  til-    -.  ( 

Tl,..    ;.    1:    ,,;   .;  - 

,  i  I'l    ;  II  _  til  i.f  the  wooflen  structure  only 

1  1  II-  t"  vers.  9  and  36)  being  pro- 

..         ■      1,  It    ;..llu«s  that  in  cul.ils  must 

:        i"   .'  u.'.'.M 

1 
I 

"t'lial 
-    the 

I 

1.     The  accompanying diagnitii  exhilnti 

1    1 11. trie  acrording  to  Feigiis^on'n  theory. 

.1  nil  allusion  to  a  ridge-pole  Fersusson 

-iihiiuing  "tbo  middle  bar"  of  ver.  28  as 

I 

1 

/ 

! 

\ 

5  CUBITS 

10  CUBITS 

in 

i 

referriii- lint  ...   .  1  m  :  :      i:  ,      i:„r-  .-it  th 
niadoof  it.  th    1    1        ^    ;        i    ;i:,.  v-randal 

1;""' '     """' 

e  side,  but  to  Ihe 

1  .  tieuls  referred 
loing  over  the 
iliit  at  the  we-t 
ml  reason  M  ini- 

' 

inr                                                    •     \     ,,','l    '.      ;'    '    ...    ." 

duiM„..i\ -.■«',  ,.,.1 

.      '        .  ,  1  lul.itsfro 
1    1    -  '■     III    1    ..  tear,  accc 

\"'rUts',",i'',h."'" 

ill  the  front  ol  i'.' 
rding  toth"  ti  1 
he  supposed  po.-t- 

iv.  The  Work  of  Ihe  Curtains.  The  work  of 
skilful  weavers,  i.  e.,  with  figures  interwoven,  viz,^ 
with  figures  of  cherubim. 

V.  The  different  kinds  of  woven  work. 

5.   The  Veil.     Vers.  31-37. 

The  division  between  the  holy  place  and  the 
Holy  of  holies.  Accordingtomoderu  notions  there 
is  no  difference  between  the  wide,  savage  world 
and  the  court,  no  difference  between  the  court 
and  the  holy  place,  none,  in  fine,  between  the 
holy  place  and  the  most  holy.  The  Biblical  no- 
tions are  infinitely  purer  and  finer.  Even  be- 
tween the  holy  place  and  the  most  holy  hangs  a 
thick  curtain,  as  between  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament. The  passage  from  the  holy  place  into 
the  Holy  of  holies  has  been  made  free  to  His 
people  by  Christ. 

As  the  heaven  of  heavens  is  to  he  conceived  as 
a  high  heaven  consisting  of  individual  heavens, 
Ihe  age  (ason)  of  ages  (leons)  as  an  age  which 
consists  of  individual  ages,  Ihe  Sabbath  of 
Sabbaths  as  one  whose  several  week  days 
are  seven  Sabbaths;  so  the  Holy  of  holies  is  a 
sanctuary  of  sanctuaries,  D'tinp  lyip,  and  so, 
most  holy.  Especially  is  it  to  be  observed  that  the 
three  principal  features  of  the  holy  place,  viz., 
the  table  of  shew-bread,  the  candlestick,  and  Ihe 
altar  of  incense,  here  coalesce  into  one. 

As  there  were  three  altars,  so  three  curtains. 
The  first  screened  the  court;  the  second,  the 
holy  place;  the  third,  the  Holy  of  holies.  The 
latter  was  the  principal  one.  Keil  and  Kiiobel 
give  details  about  the  construction  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  curtain,  as  also  about  the  Arab  tents 
and  Egyptian  temples.* 

lion  of  the  veil,  the  Holy  of  holies  being  in  the  form  of  a 
cube,  10  cubits  in  every  direction,  while  the  hnly  place  was 


a  prove  the  th. 
itable  to  hold  :< 
had  been  men 


6.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-offermg.     Chap,  xxvii.  1-8. 

The  fact  that  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  was 
separated  not  only  from  the  Holy  of  holies,  but 
also  from  the  holy  place,  and  stood  in  the  court, 
serves  to  express  this  religious  idea:  that  faith 
begins  with  the  first  approach  to  God,  with  obe- 
dience to  His  law  and  surrender  to  His  judg- 
ment; but  that  it  does  not.  for  that  reason  eu 
one  to  an  enl ranee  into  the  interior  communion 
■with  God  in  the  sanctuary,  still  less  to  a  coin 
plete  union  with  God  in  the  Holy  of  holies;  al 
though  it  has  this  as  its  aim,  and  is  a  prepara 
tion  for  it,  and  also  througli  religious  fellowship 
with  the  high-priest  gives  to  him  who  malies  the 
offering  a  conditional  participation  in  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Holy  of  holies,  and  gives  him  a  hope 
of  future  entrance  into  the  Holy  of  holies  itself. 

This  distance  between  the  holy  place  and  the 
Holy  of  holies  is  also  represented  by  the  grada- 
tions in  the  value  of  the  metallic  ornamentations. 
The  altar  of  burnt-oft'ering  was  overlaid  with 
copper:  the  seven-branched  candlestick  in  the 
holy  place  consisted  of  fine  or  boUow  vessels;  the 
table  of  sliew-bread  was  gilt;  the  ark  of  the  co- 
venant was  gilt  inside  and  outside,  while  its  lid 
and  th3  cherubim  on  it,  as  also  the  rim  of  the 
ark,  were  of  solid  gold.  A  similar  relation  exists 
between  the  curtains.  The  veil  of  tlie  Holy  of 
holies  was  the  work  of  a  skilled  weaver,  adorned 
with  figures  of  cherubim  in  which  tire  reflection 
of  the  cherubim  in  the  Holy  of  holies  appears. 
The  second  curtain,  which  screened  the  holy 
place,  was  simply  woven  in  variegated  colors, 
striped,  or  pei-h.-ips  checkered:  so  also  the  screen 
at  the  entr!in.!e  of  the  court.  Significant  special 
features  in  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  are  particu- 
larly its  horns,  the  points  of  the  corners,  the 
permanent  power  of  the  altar,  so  to  speak,  in 
contrast  with  the  fire  which  now  appears  and 
now  disappears;  "hence,"  as  Keil  says,  "the 
blood  of  the  sin-offering  was  put  upon  (hem  (Lev 
iv.  7),  and  also  those  who  sought  the  protection 
of  their  lives  at  the  altar  seized  hold  of  them  (vhl. 
xxi.  14)."  Among  the  vessels  howls  appear  again, 
but  here  to  be  used  for  sprinkling  the  blood. 
Special  mention,  moreover,  is  made  of  the  grating 

of  the  altar  under  the  ledge  or  rim  (33"13),  and 
of  this  ledge  itself  "  Upon  the  karkob,  the  ledge 
or  rim,  the  priest  stepped  when  an  offering  was 
made,  or  when  he  wished  to  add  more  wood,  or 
do  anything  else  on  the  altar"  (Keil).  Knobel 
has  a  different  view,  holiling  [that  the  rim  was 
only  an  ornament,  that  such  a  ledge  to  step  on 
would  have  disfigured  the  altar,  and  moreover] 
that  the  altar  was  so  high  that  it  could  not  have 
been  served  without  steps;  which  is  contrary  to 
XX.  26.  Keil,  on  the  contrary,  supposes  that  the 
earth  was  slightly  heaped  up,  so  that  the  priest 
could  step  from  it  to  the  ledge.  Neither  does 
the  heie;ht  of  the  altar  in  Solomon's  temple  (2 
tJliron.  iv.  1)  exclude  the  assumption  of  such  a 
gradual  ascent.  The  grating  was  an  enclosure 
to  protect  the  altar;  the  rings  by  which  the  altar 
was  carried  were  al-.  la-n  ii.  fi,.  it.  The  altar 
itself  was  a  wooHrn  i  m  .  !,-isling  of  four 
plane  sides  overl  ii<l        '  !i  .  (Mrmiug  a  hoi-  | 

low  square,  which  w  a    jaa.!,  iiij  \\\\^,\  with  earth,  | 


gravel,  or  stones  [vid.  xx.  24).  The  place  for  the 
tire  had  to  be  adequately  separated  from  the 
wooden  border. 

7.  The  Court.  Vers.  9-19. 
The  hangings  which  enclosed  the  court  were 
not  wrougiit  in  the  four  sacred  colors,  like  the 
covering  of  the  tabernacle  itself,  but  were  simply 
white.  Moreover,  they  formed  no  roof,  as  that 
did,  but  only  a  boundary,  an  enclosure.  The  pil- 
lars here,  moreover,  have  copper  sockets,  not 
silver  ones ;  only  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  the 
rods  connecting  them  were  of  silver,  the  latter 
perhaps  only  overlaid  with  silver,  as  the  pillars 
at  the  entrance  of  the  tabernacle  were  gilt.  It 
is  to  be  further  observed,  that  the  court  properly 
unites  the  notions  of  a  porch  and  of  a  quadran- 
gular wall  of  enclosure,  since  it  passed  around 
the  tabernacle  from  east  to  west. 

in.      THE     PERSONS    AND    THINfiS    OCCUrYlNO    THE 
BUILDING.  THE     KXTUAL     WORSHIP.         CHAPS. 

xxvii.  20-xxx.  38. 

In  speaking  now  exclusively  of  the  features 
of  the  ritual  worship,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  we 
must  distinguish  the  general  worship  of  the  house 
of  God  from  the  specific,  Levitical  worship, 
the  sacrificial  ritual  described  in  Leviticus. 

1.  The  Oil  for  ike  Light.      The  Lamps.      Chap. 

xxvii.  20,  21. 
The  first  condition  of  life,  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  as  well  as  elsewhere,  is  light ;  and  the  pre- 
requisite of  that  is  oil.  Light  is  the  spirit  iu 
action,  symbolized  by  oil,  which  is  a  symbol  of 
the  spiritual  life  itself.  The  first  business  of  the 
priest  was  to  be  to  prepare  and  produce  light — 
eveu  in  the  Old  Testament.  How  is  it  in  this 
respect  with  the  sacrificial  priesthood  of  the  pre- 
sent time  ?  The  text  says  that  this  is  to  be  a 
perpetual  statute.     On  the  oil  vid  Knobel.* 

2.  The  Sacerdotal  Vocation.    The  Priest — his  Assist- 

ants and  Apparel.     Chap,  xxviii. 

The  consecration  of  the  priests  is  not  treated 
of  here,  as  Knobel  thinks,  but  the  priestly  call- 
ing and  its  symbolic  representation  by  means  of 
the  clothing;  the  consecration  is  not  distinctly 
spoken  of  till  the  next  chapter. 

First,  then,  the  vocation  of  the  Priest,  vers.  1-5. 
That  Aaron  is  to  be  the  priest  [i.  e.,  high  priest), 
is  presupposed;  or,  rather,  it  is  Jehovah's  com- 
mandment which  is  fulfilled  by  his  coming  be- 
fore Moses,  the  prophet  of  God.  The  prophetic 
order  is  therefore  perpetually  the  medium  through 
which, and  tlie  condition  on  which,  the  priestly 
order  officiates.  But  the  priest  is  essentially 
only  one— a  truth  which  in  the  N.  T.  is  fulfided 
in  the  high-priesthood  of  Christ.  His  sons  there- 
fore must  approach  with  him,  as  being  his  de- 
scendants and  legal  successors,  and  as  being  his 


Moses  was  to  be  btZ  of  I 
vos  which,  before  bein 


.;a:;::i 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18. 


119 


actual  assistants.  So  they  are  first  publicly  pre- 
seuted  to  the  congregatiou,  and  the  latter  take 
part  in  tlieir  appointment  by  furnisliing  men  of 
sacred  skill  able  to  prepare  tlie  sacred  garments 
"which  are  to  portray  the  symbolic  phenomenon 
of  the  sacerdotal  vocation,  and  by  furnishing  the 
materials  for  them  (all  of  which  is  shadowed 
forth  in  Chi-istianity,  but  not  in  the  least  in  the 
"infallible"  Pope).  The  main  particulars  are 
given  in  a  significant  order.  As  in  the  house 
of  Jehovah  the  chief  thing  is  the  ark,  so  in  the 
service  of  Jehovah  is  the  breast-plate  of  the  high- 
priest,  with  which,  however,  the  shoulder-piece 
or  ephod  is  immediately  connected;  for  the 
priest  is  not  only  as  a  sympathizing  intercessor 
to  bear  his  people  on  his  heart,  but  also,  as  a 
tellow-suiferer  and  laborer,  on  his  shoulders. 
The  shoulder-piece  and  the  breast-plate  form  sub- 
stantially one  whole,  whose  most  important  part 
is  the  breast-plate;  just  as  the  mercy-seat  is 
connected  with  the  ark  of  the  law,  and  yet  forms 
in  itself  the  principal  thing  in  the  Holy  of  holies, 
being,  so  to  speak,  the  New  Testament  in  the 
Old.  So  also  in  the  breast-plate  the  etei-nal  in- 
tercession of  the  eternal  High  Priest  is  adum- 
brated. Then  follow  the  robe,  the  coat,  the  tur- 
ban, and  the  girdle. 

Next,  therefore,  is  described  the  shoulder-piece 
or  ephod,  this  being  designed  to  underlie  the 
breast-plate,  vers,  ii-14.  From  the  whole  cast 
of  the  precept  it  is  evident  that  the  culminating 
feature  was  its  serving  to  bear  the  breast-plate. 
The  material  of  the  shoulder-piece  is  of  as  costly 
work,  in  all  the  four  colors  of  the  covenant,  as 
the  veil  of  the  Holy  of  holies,  "except  that  in- 
stead of  the  figures  of  cherubim  woven  into  the 
veil,  this  is  to  be  artistically  inwrought  with 
gold,  t.  e.,  goldthreads"  (Keil).  According  to 
Knobel,  the  ephod  consisted  of  one  piece,  which 
had  holes  slit  in  it  for  the  arms.  But  this  leaves 
us  no  clear  conception  of  it,  for  in  this  case  there 
must  have  been  another  slit  for  the  head  too; 
and  moreover  in  that  case  the  symbolic  reference 
to  the  two  shoulders  would  be  lost.  According 
to  Keil's  representation,  the  two  shoulder-pieces 
seem  to  be  too  much  separated;  but  they  are  not 
"connecting"  so  much  as  connected.  The  Rab- 
binical conception  which  he  accepts  seems  quite 
untenable.  It  seems  almost  necessary  to  suppose 
that  there  was  a  connection  not  only  on  the  front 
side,  but  also  on  the  back ;  for  only  on  this  con- 
dition could  the  girdle,  of  like  material  and  co- 

SARDIUS.  TO 

(Flesh  Color.)  (Golde 


lor,  fasten  the  ephod.*  The  girdle  itself  also  is 
of  oue  piece  with  the  ephod;  for  firmness  and 
collectedness  are  necessary  in  order  to  bear  the 
burden  of  the  people  on  the  shoulders.  That 
this  was  to  be  doue  by  the  high-priest,  is  ex- 
pressed by  tlie  onyx  {shoham)  stones  which  were 
fastened  on  the  right  and  left  shoulder-pieces 
and  had  engraved  ou  them  the  names  of  the  sons 
of  Israel  in  the  order  of  age — a  foreshadowing  of 
the  names  ou  the  breast-plate,  as  the  cherubim  in 
the  veil  foreshadow  the  cherubim  in  the  Holy 
of  holies  itself,  and  the  altar  of  burnt-oiferiiig 
(used  also  for  sin  and  trespass-offerings,  and  for 
the  great  sin-offering)  foreshadows  the  propi- 
tiatory lid  or  mercy-seat.  Finally  in  the  ephod 
are  to  be  considered  the  golden  settings  or  rings, 
with  their  golden  chains,  by  means  of  which  the 
breast-plate  is  to  be  fastened  to  the  ephod. 

Now  follows  the  most  important  article — the 
breast-plate — vers.  15-30:  the  breast-plate  of  ju- 
dicial sentence.  By  this  phrase  would  we  repre- 
sent the  meaning  of  tJ-JS/p,  because  it  comprises 
both  factors,  light  and  right  [Urim  and  Thum- 
mim],  the  sentence  of  salvation  or  of  righteous- 
ness, and  the  sentence  of  judgment.  The  source 
and  combination  of  both  elements  is  found  in  the 
sympathy  of  the  high-priest  with  the  people  of 
God.  The  material  of  the  breast-plate  is  like 
that  of  the  shoulder-pieces.  Its  form  is  square  ; 
for  the  people  of  God  signify  symbolically  God's 
perfect  world ;  they  are  eventually  to  dwell  in  the 
Holy  of  holies  (Rev.  xxi.  24).  The  doubling  of 
it,  aside  from  any  other  reference  (e.g.,  to  make  it 
a  pocket  for  the  stones  used  in  drawing  lots),  may 
have  this  meaning :  that  the  inner  fold  represents 
the  divine  justice  ;  the  outer  one,  the  people.  The 
people  are  laid  upon  the  heart  of  the  high-priest, 
with  the  twelve  precious  stones  set  in  four  rows: 
four,  the  mundane  number  [the  four  points  of 
the  compass],  multiplied  by  three,  the  number 
of  the  spirit  [intellect,  feelings,  will],  thus  point- 
ing to  the  world  as  made  complete  in  and  by  the 
people  of  God.  The  twelve  precious  stones  de- 
note the  variety,  manifoldness,  and  totality  of  the 
natural  and  gracious  gifts  bestowed  on  the 
people  of  God,  and  united  in  the  one  spirit 
of  heavenly  preciousness.  This  wonderful  idea 
goes  from  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob  through 
the  whole  Bible,  and  at  last,  proceeding  from  the 
number  of  the  twelve  apostles,  attains  its  com- 
plete expression  in  the  Apocalypse,  vid.  Comm. 
on  Revelation,  p.  3(5-5.     The  rows  are  as  follows: 


SAPPHIRE. 

(Sky-Blue) 


AGATE. 

sning— Variegated.) 


AMETHYST. 
(Mostly  Violet.) 


ONYX    iBERYL.) 


ling  of  this  apparently  ia  that  the  shoiiliier-pieces  were  joined  not  merely  to  the  two  parts  of  the  ephod, 
another,  both  in  front  of,  and  hehind.  the  neck,  so  that  the  girdle  passing  around  at  the  bottom  of  the 
se  it  toeeiher  thorouahly,  not  leaving  tlie  iipp  -r  parts  loose,  as  they  would  be  if  they  were  only  connected 
cted  pieces  passing  over  the  shoulders.— Tb.] 


120 


For  archsEologiciil  and  other  details,  see  Kno- 
bel,  p.  283,  and  my  Vermischte  Schriften,  I.  p.  18. 

The  fastening  of  the  breastplate  to  the  ephod 
was  an  important  task ;  no  part  was  to  be  injured 
in  the  process.  The  description  is  hard  to  un- 
derstand. We  find  a  clue  by  the  use  of  two  sug- 
gestions. First,  by  determining  that  two  golden 
chains  hang  down  from  the  ephod  towards  the 
breast-pla'e.  Secondly,  by  determining  that  the 
breast-plate  must  be  loose  at  the  top,  as  a  pocket, 
for  which  reason  also  only  two  corners,  viz.,  those 
at  the  bottom,  are  spoken  of.  On  these  corners 
two  golden  rings  are  fixed,  into  which  the  golden 
chains  of  the  ephod  are  inserted,  they  themselves 
passing  down  by  the  breast  plate  and  then  return- 
ing into  the  connecting  hooks  of  the  ephod.  Tlius 
the  breast-plate  is  held  secure  from  falling,  but 
may  still  become  displaced.  Hence  two  more 
golden  rings  have  to  be  put  upon  the  corners  of 
the  edge  of  the  pocket,  towards  the  inner  part, 
i.e.,  on  the  inside  part  of  the  pocket,  in  order 
that  the  pocket  itself  may  be  left  open.  These 
rings  correspond  to  two  golden  rings  on  the 
ephod  which  are  fixed  upon  the  breast  side  of  it 
above  where  the  two  parts  are  joined  together. 
These  corresponding  rings  are  tied  fast  together 
with  a  purplish-blue  cord.  So  much  importance 
and  particularity  belong  to  the  business  of  fast- 
ening the  breast-plate  to  the  high-priest's  breast; 
and  this  fact  has  doubtless  its  significance.  Kno- 
bel  has  a  different  conception.*  The  ordinance 
that  Aaron  must  appear  with  the  breast-plate 
before  Jehovah  (ver.  29)  is  designed  to  be  a  sym- 
bolical reference  to  the  high-priestly  interces- 
sion:  and  so  the  opposite  of  this  is  quite  appro- 
priate, viz.,  the  direction  that  he  shall  proclaim 
light  and  right  to  the  people  in  the  name  of  Je- 
hovah, with  royal  authority,  as  it  were,  after  he 
has  consecrated  this  commission  in  Jehovah's 
presence,  ver.  30.  Vid.  Num.  xxvii.  21 ;  Dent, 
xxxiii.  8.  Comp.  Comm.  on  John,  xi.  51.  On 
the  various  explanations  of  D-IIN  and  D'3^  [Urim 
and  Tbummim]  see  the  Dictionaries  and  Com- 
mentaries. Luther's  translation,  "Licht  und 
Eechl"  ["light  and  right  (justice)"]  is  much 
better  than  that  of  the  LX'X.,  iifijuaK;  ml  aAi/- 
^eia,  or  that  of  the  Vulg.,  doctrina  et  Veritas. 
We  translate:  "Lights  and  decision,"  connect- 
ing oh  with  the  meaning  "to  be  finished,"  "to 
be  at  an  end,"  which  DOH  has  in  Kal;  and  "to 
finish,"  "to  terminate,"  in  Hiphil.  So  also 
Symmachus  and  Theodotion  translate  (pu7iafini 
Kal  Te7.ei(liae'(.  As  to  the  question  what  tlie  ob- 
ject of  them  was,  as  stated  in  Num.  xxvii.  21,  the 
Urim  and  Thummim  mark  a  kind  of  permanent 
judgment-hall  where  prophetico-royal  decisions 
were  rendered.  There  were  not  always  prophets 
in  Israel,  and  also  not  always  kings;  but  the 
priest  was  always  to  be  found,  and  so  also  the 


Til 


!  which 


living  God,  who  was  the  King  of  Israel,  and  after 
whose  will  Israel  was  always  to  inquire.  Hence 
it  was  the  high-priest's  duty,  when  the  prophetic 
voice  was  wanting,  always  to  give  answer  when 
the  people  asked  what  was  to  be  done.  Herein 
the  priest  was  the  vicar  of  the  prophet,  as  in 
other  cases  the  reverse  happened.  But  because 
the  priest  was  a  hereditary  one,  he  was  as  such 
neither  prophet  nor  king,  and  could  therefore 
give  answer  only  througli  a  special  medium,  the 
oracle  of  the  Urim  and  Thummim.  In  many 
cases  the  answer  of  Jehovah  was  at  once  light 
and  right;  in  favorable  cases,  wlien  the  inquirers 
were  pious,  as  is  assumed  in  the  case  mentioned 
in  Num.  xxvii.  21,  it  was  Drim  ;  also  in  the  worst 
case,  such  as  is  implied  in  John  xi.  51,  the  de- 
cision, necessary  in  all  cases,  took  the  form  of 
Thummim  in  bringing  on  judgment.  It  was  re- 
garded as  a  condition  of  peculiar  distress  when 
there  was  at  hand  neither  a  prophet,  nor  a  king, 
nor  the  priest  with  Urim  and  Thummim  (Ezra 
ii.  G3:  Neh.  vii.  65),  or  when  the  oracle  Urim 
gave  no  answer — a  circumstance  which  might 
grow  out  of  the  institution  itself  (1  Sam.  xiv.  37), 
iir  out  of  a  variance  between  the  high-priest  and 
the  inquirer.  As  to  the  question  what  the  Urim 
and  TImmmim  were,  they  could  uot  have  consisted 
in  the  stones  of  the  breast-plate  themselves, 
which,  as  Josephus  and  Saalschiitz  suppose,  in- 
spired the  high-priest  as  he  looked  down  upon 
them ;  still  less  in  two  small  oracular  images,  te- 
raphim,  which,  as  Philo  probably  or  perhaps  con- 
ceives, were  inserted  in  the  orifice  of  the  breast- 
plate. The  Urim  and  Thummim  must  certainly 
have  been  an  object  distinct  from  the  breast-plate 
itself  and  something  which  Moses  was  to  put  into 
it.  The  Rabbins  conceived  that  in  the  inside  of 
the  breast-plate  was  the  sacred  tetragramniaton 
(Jehovah),  and  that  this  illuminated  the  names 
on  the  breast-plate;  the  Cabb.alists  assumed,  in- 
stead of  this,  two  similarly  efficacious  names  of 
God.  Ziillig  understands  the  object  to  have  been 
two  diamond  dice  to  be  used  in  drawing  lots 
{Apokalypse,  I.  p.  408).  So  much  is  established, 
that  the  phrase  "to  ask  of  Jehovah"  may  be  ex- 
plained both  by  the  phrase  "ask  of  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,"  and  by  the  notion  of  decision  by 
lot  (1  Sam.  X.  20;  xiv.  36).  It  is  notice»ble  that 
in  1  Sam.  xxviii.  6  the  lot  is  not  mentioned  in 
connection  with  Urim.  Comp.  on  the  lot  Winer, 
RealwiiTterbuch,  II.  p.  31.  On  the  derivation  of 
the  Urim  and  Thummim  from  an  Egyptian  judi- 
cial symbol,  vid.  Winer.  II.  p.  644  [and  Smith's 
Bible  Dictionarii,  Art.  Urim  and  Thummim'].  Re- 
ference can  only  be  assumed  to  something  ana- 
logous in  the  Egyptian  institution.  The  main 
point  is  that  the  resolute  spirit  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures regarded  hesitation  as  the  evil  of  evils — 
e.  g.,  in  the  life  of  Saul  and  of  Judas.  Hence  the 
lot,  hence  the  need  of  decision.  In  accordance 
with  his  coarse  anthropopathic  conceptions,  Kno- 
hel  holds  that  the  precious  stones  were  in  the 
proper  sense  to  remind  Jehovah  of  Israel,  p.  287. 
The  directions  cencerning  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim seem  to  have  been  intentionally  made  very 
brief  and  kept  mysterious.  Vid.  more  in 
Kiiobel. 

riie  outer  robe,  ver.  31.  Luther's  translation 
is  here  very  arbitrary,  but  was  probably  occa- 
sioned  by  the  desire  to  leave  the  breastplate 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI. 


121 


uncovered :  "  Thou  shall  also  make  the  silk  robe 
under  the  coal  all  of  yellow  silk."  For  if  a 
b'^O,  a  covering  (not  to  be  absolutely  confounded 
with  the  ordinary  ''"J^O),  was  made  for  the  ephod, 
such  an  over-garment  must  necessarily  have  co- 
vered ihe  bieasi-plate  also,  if  it  was  a  long  robe 
closely  fitting  (according  to  Keil),  reaching  to 
the  knees,  and,  aoiiordiug  to  the  Alexandrians, 
even  reaching,  as  7ro6i/p^c,  to  the  feet.  Against 
both  assumptions  is  not  only  the  fact  that  in  (hat 
case  the  breast-plate  would  have  been  covered, 
but  also  the  manner  in  which  the  robe  was  put 
on,  viz.,  over  the  head,  by  means  of  an  opening 
(as  in  the  case  of  a  coat  of  mail) — which  also 
implies  the  absence  of  sleeves.  i3esides,  there 
would  then  come  two  girdles  at  nearly  the  same 
place,  since  the  coat  had  its  own  girdle,  vid.  ver. 
39.  The  representation  in  Lev.  viii.  7  seems,  it 
is  true,  somewhat  inexact.*  The  significance 
of  this  hyacinth-colored,  dark-blue,  purple  orna- 
ment may  be  sought  in  this,  that  (he  burden  of 
the  high-priest  symbolized  by  the  ephod  was  not 
to  be  made  a  spectacle  to  the  world,  but  was  to 
be  hidden  by  a  symbol  of  the  royal  splendor  of  his 
vocation.  Two  questions  are  raised  by  this  con- 
ception of  the  covering  for  the  ephod.  First : 
If  the  robe  was  so  short,  what  was  the  case  with 
the  rest  of  the  garments?  This  is  answered  by 
ver.  39  and  the  parallel  description,  xxxix.  27. 
They  made  the  coats  ('"'J'^-^n)  of  white  byssus. 
Secondly:  How  could  the  bells  ring,  if  they  lay 
so  high  up  that  even  the  breast-plate  was  to  be 
exposed  ?  This  question  is  solved  if  we  take 
I'l^U  ["its  skirts"]  in  Its  original  sense,  i.e., 
not  as  its  hem,  but  its  train,  and  assume  that  the 
robe  was  so  cut  that  it  left  the  breast-plate  free, 
while  it  flowed  out  sidewise  in  trains. 

On  the  various  interpretations  of  the  bells  and 
pomegranates,  vid.  Keil.f  According  to  Keil  or 
Bahr,  the  pomegranates  are  symbols  of  the  word 
and  testimony  of  God;  the  bells,  with  their  ring- 


*  [Lan 


1  nntion  of  the  robe  s 


1  be  rather  peculiar, 


ing,  symbols  of  the  sound  of  this  word.  But  in 
this  case  Moses  the  prophet  would  have  abdi- 
cated his  functions  to  Aaron  the  priest.  The  sym- 
bolic meaning  of  the  pomegranate  is  very  hard  to 
fix  {vid.  Friedrich,  Symbolik  und  Mi/iholni/ie  dir 
Nalur);  perhaps  the  most  natural  assumption  is 
that  in  the  alternation  of  pomegranates  and  bells 
is  to  be  discerned  the  connection  of  nature,  as 
represented  in  its  abundance  and  beauty  by  the 
pomegranate,  with  the  theocracy  as  designed  to 
manifest  itself  in  the  sacrificial  vocation  of  the 
high-priest  through  holy  time,  and  through  the 
awakening  voice  of  the  thunder,  the  trumpet,  and 
the  bells.  The  gifts  of  nature  and  of  grace  are 
the  offerings  which  the  high-priest  brings  to  Je- 
hovah over  his  shoulders. 

The  clause,  "  tliat  he  die  not,"  can  hardly 
mean  that  sudden  death  would  follow  the  neglect 
of  the  precept,  but  that  this  would  be  an  official 
misdemeanor  worthy  of  death,  an  ofi'euce  con- 
sisting chiefly  in  contempt  of  Jehovah  and  of  the 
customs  of  the  sanctuary,  but  also  particularly  in 
the  fact  that  the  connection  between  Jehovah 
and  the  congregation  is  not  only  effected  in 
general  by  means  of  these  bells,  but  is  also 
enlivened  by  the  sacred  moment  [the  advent 
of  which  they  announce].  From  the  farthest 
distance,  as  it  were,  the  sound  of  the  bells  ia 
heard,  indicating  holy  time  (as  the  organ  indi- 
cates the  holy  place),  although  the  large  bell  is  not 
i  mmediately  derived  from  an  enlargement  of  these 

The  plale  of  gold  for  the  forehead,  ver.  36.  A 
plate  of  gold  fastened  to  the  turban  by  a  dark- 
blue  purple  string,  with  the  inscription,  ''  Holi- 
ness [or  holy)  to  Jehovah,"  and  designated  iu 
xxxix.  30  as  the  holy  crown.  The  meaning  is 
that  Aaron  is  to  bear  the  expiation  ([1^,  i.  e.,  ex- 
piation of  the  guilt)  of  the  gifts  of  the  sanctuary, 
which  the  children  of  Israel  shall  hallow,  elc. 
That  is,  the  high-priest  has  to  effect  the  expia- 
tion of  the  expiations  before  Jehovah.  The  chil- 
dren of  Israel  also  bring  expiatory  offerings  of  all 
kinds  before  Jehovah  ;  hut  guilt  cleaves  even  to 
their  offerings;  the  high-priest,  however,  is 
symbolically  to  accomplish  the  expiation  of  all 
these  guilt-stained  expiations.  Thus,  then,  the 
high-priest's  plate  of  gold  points  to  the  chief 
function  which  he  was  to  discharge  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement,  on  which  day,  even  on  his  en- 
trance into  the  Holy  of  holies,  he  had,  if  not  ex- 
actly to  supplement,  yet  to  complete,  the  whole 
abundance  of  the  expiatory  offerings  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  to  cleanse  them  from  the  stain 
nl'guiU  (the  negative  guilt  of  deficiency,  and  the 
1  isiiive  guilt  of  wrong-doing)  which  cleaves 
iH  them.  How  rich  in  instruction  this  sym- 
ImiI  is  iu  its  relation  to  the  high-priesthood 
and  sacrifice  of  Christ!  From  the  instituting 
of  this  plate  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  in 
Zech.  xiv.  20  is  a  great  distance.  The  general 
fulfilment  is  announced  in  John  xvii.;  the  escha- 
tological  fulfilment  is  pictured  in  Revelation,  ch. 
xxi.  Knobel,  referring  to  ancient  heathen  cus- 
toms, resolves  the  thing  itself  wholly  into  sensu- 
ous conceptions,  speaking  of  "  external  lapses 
of  the  children  of  Israel  in  connection  with  their 
offering  of  gifts — the  conciliatory  appearance  of 
the  high-priest,"  and  referring  to  a  custom  of 
the  ancients,  in  offering  sacrifices  to  put  garlands 


on  themselves  aud  on  the  victims.  But  vid.  the 
quotation  from  Calvin  in  a  note  in  Keil,  II.  p. 
204 :  [•'  The  iniquity  of  the  sacred  offerings  was 
to  be  borne  and  cleansed  by  the  priest.  It  is  a 
frigid  explanation  to  say  that  whatever  error 
crept  into  the  ceremonies  was  remitted  through 
the  prayei-s  of  the  priest.  For  we  must  looli 
further  back,  and  see  that  the  iniquity  of  the  of- 
ferings was  obliterated  by  the  priest  for  the  rea- 
son that  no  offering,  so  far  as  it  is  man's,  is  wholly 
free  from  defect.  It  sounds  harsh  and  almost 
paradoxical  to  say  that  holy  things  themselves  are 
unclean,  so  as  to  need  pardon  ;  but  it  is  to  be  held 
that  there  is  absolutely  nothing  so  pure  but  that 
it  contracts  some  stain  from  us. .  .  Nothing  is  more 
excellent  than  the  worship  of  God;  and  yet  the 
people  could  offer  nothing,  even  when  it  was  pre- 
scribed by  law,  without  the  intervention  of  pardon, 
which  they  could  obtain  only  through  the  priest."] 

Aaron's  coal,  ver.  39.  The  tunic  proper,  with 
which  also  his  sons  were  clothed.  It  reached  to 
the  ankles,  and  was  also  provided  with  sleeves. 
It  wa^  made  of  white  byssus  ;  but  Aaron's  coat 
was  distinguished  by  being  more  artistically 
wrouf;lit..  The  girdle  of  his  coat  was  also  of 
variegated  work.  According  to  Josephus  {Ant. 
III.  7,  2)  purple  and  crimson  flowers  were  woven 
into  the  linen  girdles  of  the  priests. 

The  clothing  of  the  sons,  ver.  40.  Of  Aaron's 
assistants,  or  the  ordinary  priests.  It  consisted 
in  the  coat  of  white  byssus,  the  girdle,  and  the 
cap.  These  articles  are  not  included  in  the  de- 
scription of  .\ai-on's  clothing,  because  there  were 
differences.  The  sons  do  not  receive  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  high-priest;  and  Aaron's  head-gear 
is  the  turban  with  the  gold  plate,  while  the  sons 
receive  caps.  "  n>'3J0  is  only  used  of  the  head- 
dress of  the  common  priests,  xxix.  9;  xxxix.  28; 
Lev.  viii.  1.3.  The  word  is  related  to  JT^J,  gob- 
let, cup  (xxv.  31),  so  that  these  head-tirea 
seem  to  have  had  a  conical  form.  This  was  also 
customary  in  refei-ence  to  other  sacerdotal  per- 
sons of  antiquity"  (Knobel).  The  passage,  1 
Sam.  xxii.  18,  seems  to  mei-ge  the  whole  family 
of  priests  into  one,  as  inheriting  in  that  capacity 
the  high-priesthood,  and  therefore  the  ephod. 
A  different  point  of  view  would  lead  critics  to 
make  a  sharp  distinction  between  the  time  of  the 
original  giving  of  the  law  and  the  time  of  Samuel. 

The.  investment,  anointing,  and  consecration  of 
the  priests,  ver.  41.  This  equipment  is  common 
to  all,  but  conferred  wholly  by  Moses,  not  even 
in  part  by  Aaron  after  he  himself  has  been 
equipped.  Nor  does  Aaron  anoint  even  his  sons, 
but  the  prophet  iloes  it.  That  which  was  genea- 
logically transmitted  from  Aaron  to  his  de- 
scendants must  therefore  be  continually  sup- 
plemented by  the  transmission  of  spiritual 
life  in  the  theocracy.  The  clothes  denote 
the  dignity  and  burden  of  the  oiBce;  the  an- 
ointment is  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit;  the  hands 
filled  are  the  signs  of  the  sacrificial  giftsfurnished 
by  the  congregation, — of  the  emoluments  which 
they  themselves  first  of  all  have  to  bring  as  an 
offering  to  Jehovah.  With  this  investment  is 
completed  the  potential  sanctification  or  conse- 
cration; the  strict,  actual  consecration  of  the 
priests  is  yet  to  follow. 

Tlie  breeches  and  the  object  of  them,  vers.  42,  43. 


This  ordinance  forms  a  transition  to  the  actual 
consecration  of  the  priests.  It  is  significant 
that  it  follows  the  official  investment.  The  o£B- 
cial  clothing  in  the  narrow  sense  conferred  dig- 
nity and  ornament;  these,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  only  to  avert  dishonor  and  disgrace.  The 
reason  for  this  covering,  accoi'ding  to  Baumgar- 
ten,  lay  in  the  fact  that  "the  sins  of  nature  have 
their  principal  seat  in  the  'flesh  of  nakedness!'  " 
According  to  Keil  the  physical  members  men- 
tioned, "which  subserve  the  natural  secretions, 
are  pudenda,  or  objects  of  shame,  because  in  these 
secretions  is  made  evident  the  mortality  and  cor- 
ruptibility of  the  body  which  through  sin  has 
permeated  human  nature."  Neither  the  first^ 
theosophic  explanation,  nor  the  lattbr,  most  pe- 
culiarly orthodox  one,  can  be  derived  from 
Gen.  iii.  The  organs  of  the  strongest  impulses, 
those  which  through  sin  have  been  morbidly 
deranged,  belong,  even  physiologically,  to  the 
dark  side  of  life,  and  are  therefore  to  be  kept 
mysterious,  like  births  themselves,  in  conuec- 
nection  with  which  there  can  be  no  thought  of 
lust ;  but  in  an  ethical  respect,  affecting  the  whole 
human  race,  they  are  not  objects  of  a  dispassion- 
ate uesthetic  contemplation,  but  confusing  to  the 
senses,  for  which  reason  also  there  is  a  difference 
between  naked  children  and  naked  adults:  reli- 
giously considered,  finally,  they  are  indeed  signs 
of  the  moral  nakedness  of  man,  of  his  natural  and 
hereditary  guilt.  Furthermore,  "religious  reve- 
rence demands  that,  when  they  officially  approach 
the  altar,  they  should  cover  still  more  the  above- 
mentioned  parts,  which,  even  in  common  life, 
through  natural  bashfulness  are  carefully  covered, 
whereas  for  the  rest  of  the  body  a  single  cover- 
ing suffices"  (Knobel).  But  in  a  sense  the  altar 
also  becomes  to  the  mind  of  the  priest,  accord- 
ing to  chap,  xxiii.,  a  symljol  of  God  as  seeing. 
This  duty,  too,  is  declared  to  be  most  holy  for 
ever,  and  so  it  obtains  also  a  symbolic  character, 
signifying  that  everything  sexual  is  to  be  avoided 
in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Itmarks  the  oppo- 
site extreme  of  the  voluptuous  rites  of  the  heathen, 
and  of  the  commingling  of  sexual  passion  with  the 
religious  fanaticism.  But  as  shamelessness  ia 
worship  is  particularly  designated  as  a  capital  of- 
fence, so  in  general  every  other  shameless  act. 

3.  The  Consecration  of  the  Priests,  xxix.  1-36. 
The  direction  here  given  for  the  actual  conse- 
cration of  the  priests  is  not  carried  out  till  Lev. 
viii.-x.  This  raises  two  questions:  First,  why 
does  not  the  execution  of  the  precept,  as  of  all 
the  preceding  ones,  follow  in  Exodus,  where  it 
might  be  regarded  as  simply  omitted  inch,  xxxix.? 
Secondly,  why  nevertheless  are  the  calling  and 
investment  of  the  priests,  which  have  been  hei-e- 
t  ofore  considered,  described  in  Exodus  ?  As  to  the 
first  question,  we  see  from  ch.  xl.  that  even  the 
sanctuary  had  to  be  erected  and  arranged,  and  con- 
secrated by  the  first-fruits  of  the  offerings,  not  by 
Aaron,  but  by  Moses,  the  royal  prophet  himself, 
j  ust  as  he  had  also  called  and  invested,  or  prepared, 
the  priests.  For  the  tabernacle  was  designed  in  a 
universal  sense  for  Jehovah  as  presiding  over 
all  three  forms  of  revelation,  the  prophetic,  the 
ritual  or  Levitical,  and  the  princely  or  royal,  ;'.  <•., 
Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers:  but  the  initia- 
tive belonged  to  the  prophetic  office.     This  rela- 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18. 


tion  would  have  been  wholly  altered  if  the  actual 
consecration  of  the  priests  had  preceded  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tabernacle.  Thus  is  answered  also  the 
second  question,  why  the  actual  consecration  of 
the  priests  is  prescribed  so  early?  The  answer 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  priesthood  has  a  more 
universal  significance  tlian  the  merely  ritual 
one.  In  relation  to  the  prophetic  office  the 
priesthood  has  to  represent  symbolically  reli- 
gious ideas  in  itself,  in  its  clothing,  and  in  its 
functions;  in  relation  to  the  ritual  worship,  how- 
ever, it  has  not  only  to  symbolize  the  ethical 
ideas  of  sacrifice,  but  also  to  conduct  the  edu- 
cational training  of  the  people  of  Israel — in  the 
Middle  .-iges  of  the  Old  Testament — by  means  of 
the  sacrificial  service  and  the  administration  of  the 
laws  of  purification;  but  in  relation  to  the  politi- 
co-theocratic side  of  the  theocracy,  the  high-priest 
carries  on  his  breast,  for  times  of  exigency,  the 
oracular  Uritn  and  Thummim,  which  make 
good  the  temporary  failure  of  the  prophetic 
word  and  the  royal  government;  and  the  Levites 
as  bearers  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  have  to  at- 
tend to  the  banners  of  the  host  of  the  Lord.  But 
since  nevertheless  the  sacrificial  worship  is  the 
chief  vocation  of  the  priests,  the  actual  consecra- 
tion of  the  priests  serves  to  introduce  the  sacrifi- 
cial system  as  developed  in  Leviticus. — Keil  finds 
it  most  suitable  to  his  purpose  not  to  explain 
the  consecration  of  the  priests  till  Lev.  viii.  On 
this  point,  however,  Knobel  has  yielded  to  the 
requirements  of  the  text. 

The  preparation  of  the  offerings  which  Aaron  and 
his  sons  are  to  bring,  vers.  1-3.  The  three  fun- 
damental forms  of  offering,  already  involved  in 
the  Paschal  rites,  are  here  indicated  by  the  ani- 
mals specified  in  the  command  :  (1)  The  bullock 
is  appointed  for  a  sin-offering,  the  great  sin-offer- 
ing such  as  the  guilty  priest  has  to  bring  accord- 
ing to  Lev.  iv.;  in  this  sin-oftering  the  more  spe- 
cific sin-offei-ing,  the  trespass-offering  and  the  sin- 
offering  of  a  lower  grade,  are  implicitly  included. 
The  first  ram  is  then  made  the  centre  of  all  the 
offerings.  (2)  The  burnt-offering  has  likewise  its 
ramifications,  viz.,  in  the  morning  and  evening  sa- 
crifices, in  daily  offerings,  in  ott'ering-i  for  the  Sab- 
bath and  feast-d.ays,  according  to  Num.  xxviii. 
The  other  ram  is  designed  for  an  offering  of  abun- 
dance or  heave-offering  of  the  priests  from  the 
peace-offerings  of  the  children  of  Israel,  i.  «.,  it 
is  the  peace-  or  thank-offering  of  the  priest,  who 
has  no  property  or  means  of  earning  it,  and 
whose  hands  must  therefore  be  filled  by  the  con- 
gregation with  a  heave-offering  or  sacred  tribute 
which  is  regarded  as  a  surplus  from  the  peace- 
offerings  of  the  people.  (3)  The  peace-offering 
also  is  subdivided  into  three  parts:  the  thank- 
offering,  the  vow,  and  the  free-will  offering  (Lev. 
vii.).  A  basket  holds  the  three  principal  forms 
of  the  me^iloffi'ring  or  bloodless  offering,  a.s 
originally  connected  with  the  burnt-offering. 
The  principal  material  of  the  three  kinds  of 
baked  articles  is  wheat  flour,  prepared  in  three 
ways,  but  always  unleavened.  The  bread  and 
the  cake  are  mixed  with  oil;  but  the  wafer  or 
flat  cake  is  to  be  smeared  with  oil  (on  the  prepa- 
ration of  them  vid.  Lev.  ii.  4  sqq.).  The  meal- 
offering  is  subdivided  still  fuither  into  the 
meal-offering  in  the  narrow  sense,  the  drink- 
offering,  and  the  offering  of  baken  flour  and  of 


roasted  fruits,  and  is  to  be  as  scrupulously  sup- 
plemented with  salt,  oil,  and  frankincense,  as  it 
is  to  be  kept  free  from  honey  and  leaven,  the 
last  being  excepted  in  case  of  the  feast  of  har- 
vest;  on  which  point  more  hereafter. 

The  washing  and  the  investment.  Moses  has  to 
bring  Aaron  and  his  sons  to  the  door  of  the  tent, 
i-  e  ,  into  the  court,  and  there  administer  to  them 
a  symbolic  ablution.  It  is  an  interpolated  notion 
of  Keil's,  that  Moses  had  them  wash  themselves; 
and  he  also  misconceives  the  symbolic  nature  of 
the  initiatory  act,  when  he  says :  "  without  doubt 
the  whole  body,  not  only  the  han^ls  and  feet." 
Were  they  to  bathe  themselves,  or  at  any  rate 
exhibit  themselves  naked,  in  the  presence  of  the 
assembled  congregation  in  the  court  ?  The  wash- 
ing is  the  symbolic  expression  of  purification 
from  the  stains  and  defilement  incurred  in  real 
life,  whilst  the  sacrifices  removed  not  only  the 
daily  weaknesses,  but  also  the  guilt  of  life  down 
to  its  foundation  in  the  sinful  nature;  vid.  John 
xiii.  10.  In  the  description  of  the  investment 
every  article  is  specially  mentioned,  and  its  im- 
port emphasized. 

The  unction.  As  the  clothes  symbolize  the 
burden  and  the  dignity  of  office,  so  the  anointing 
with  oil,  profusely  poured  out  on  the  high-priest's 
head,  symbolizes  the  promises  of  official  grace, 
of  endowment  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  The 
anointing  of  A.aron's  sons  is  not  here  treated  of, 
as  Keil  assumes.  Nor  in  Lev.  viii.  10,  where  yet 
further  on  reference  is  made  to  a  sprinkling  of 
the  sons  of  Aaron  with  the  blood  of  the  ram  of 
consecration  and  with  anointing  oil,  in  connection 
with  the  sprinkling  of  their  father,  ver.  30.  It  is 
also  a  strange  notion  of  Keil's  (II.  p.  337)  that  the 
vessels  of  the  sanctuary  were  by  the  sprinkling 
made  media  and  vessels  of  the  blessings  of  grace 
and  salvation. 

Still  harsher  seems  Keil's  explanation  of  the 
notion  of  sanctifying.  Even  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  he  says:  "  To  sanctify  means  not  merely 
10  set  apart  to  sacred  uses,  but  to  endow  or  fill 
with  powers  from  God's  sanctifying  Spirit." 
Here  is  not  only  all  distinction  between  theO.  and 
N.  Testaments  obliterated,  but  also  all  distinc- 
tion bet  ween  the  altar  and  the  priest,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  distinction  between  the  different  altars. 

The  investiture  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  as  priests, 
vers.  8  and  9.  The  characteristic  garment  of  the 
common  priest  is  the  white  wrought  coat,  and 
with  it  the  girdle  of  the  coat,  of  embroidered 
work  ornamented  with  the  four  colors  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  white  cap  of  the  priest.  Iii 
the  girdle  is  exhibited  the  likeness  of  the  com- 
mon priest  to  the  high-priest;  in  the  white  coat 
and  the  conical  cap*  is  exhibited  the  likeness  of 
the  high-priest  to  the  commou  priest.  The  dress 
in  which,  according  to  Lev.  xvi.  4,  the  high- 
priest  is  to  enter  the  Holy  of  holies  is  even  infe- 
rior to  that  of  the  common  priest.  And  though 
.\aron  is  distinguished  by  having  the  high- 
priestly  unction,  yet  at  the  sacrifice  by  which 
he   is   purified  and  consecrated  he  must  be  as- 


*  [Tills  can  refer  only  to  tlie  material  of  tlie  cap,  not  it8 
tbriii.  At  least,  the  h'^ad-^iear  of  the  high-liriest  is  ttlvvays 
c.ilk-d  bj-adifferent  name  (n-JJjO)  from  that  of  the  com- 
mon priest  (n^'ajO).  The  formiT  is  commonly  (also  by 
Lanse)  called  a  turban,  and  therefore  can  hardly  be  con- 
ceived as  conical.— Tk.] 


124 


sociated  with  his  sons.  Also  his  hands  must  Ije 
filled  togelUer  with  those  of  his  sous.  [-'Fill 
the  hands  of" — the  literal  translation  of  the 
Hebrew  phrase  rendered  in  A.  V.  "consecrate," 
e.g.,  xxviii.  41].  For  the  poor  priest  has  nothing 
of  his  own;  the  congregation  must  provide  for 
him,  and,  first  of  all,  even  the  sacrificial  gifts  which 
he  needs  to  offer.  Thus  then  the  hands  of  him 
and  his  sons  are  filled,  they  being  declared  to 
be  the  owners  of  the  ohjects  of  sacrifice.  And 
so  Aaron  does  not  make  himself  a  priest.  Moses, 
the  servant  of  God,  commissioned  by  Jehovah, 
must  consecrate  him  to  the  office.  The  prophet 
stands  as  high  priest  over  against  the  candidate 
for  the  priesthood;  the  future  high-priest  stands 
over  against  the  prophetical  Levite  almost  in  the 
attitude  of  a  layman. 

The  bullock  for  the  sin-offering,  vers.  10-14.    Not 


every 


sacrifice 


confession  of 


but  every  sacrifice  is  a  confession  of  such  a  culpa- 
bility of  the  life  as  makes  it  unable,  in  real  spi- 
rituality, to  satisfy  the  righteousness  of  God  ; 
for  which  reason  the  symbolic  representation  of 
eatisfaction  by  means  of  sacrifice  is  introduced,— 
sacrifice  as  a  confession  of  guiit,  as  a  longing 
after  willingness  to  surrender  one's  self  to  the 
divine  judgment,  as  a  prayer  for  pardon,  and  as 
a  vow.  But  as  soon  as  the  congregation  of  God 
is  organized  as  symbolically  holy,  sacrifices  as- 
sume a  threefold  purpose.  (1)  As  national  offer- 
ings, they  assume  the  form  of  the  discharge  of  a 
legal  obligation,  the  expiation  of  a  violated  na- 
tional law ;  and  in  this  sense  they  may  also  be 
said  to  work  justification.  (2)  As  Mosaic  offer- 
ings, they  become  a  symbolic  expression  of  moral 
offences  against  the  law,  and  of  the  need  of  ex- 
piatory surrender.  (3)  As  the  continuation  and 
symbolic  expression  of  the  Abrahamic  faith,  they 
become  a  typical  adumbration  of  the  absolute 
realization  of  the  sacrificial  idea  in  the  future 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah.  Vid.  Comm.  on  Gene- 
sis, pp.  256,  470. 

In  the  act  of  laying  his  hand  on  the  victim 
the  offerer  eonfes'ies  as  his  own  the  debt  of  guilt 
which  the  animal  pays  for  him  as  his  symbolic 
substitute.  The  loss  of  the  animal,  the  animal's 
innocence,  its  dying  pain,  form  in  their  union  an 
emphatic  expression  of  his  condition;  the  ani- 
mal symbolically  takes  the  place  of  his  life. 
In  all  cases  he  lays  symbolically  his  guilt  and 
his  deficiencies  upon  the  animal — even  in  the  case 
of  the  peace-offering.  The  hand  in  this  con- 
nection is  the  symbolic  and  mystical  conductor 
of  the  soul's  life ;  as  in  other  cases,  of  its  spiritual 
fulness,  so  here,  of  its  defects  and  need  of  ex- 
piation. 

The  killing  of  the  animal  is  done  by  Moses  be- 
fore the  Lord,  i.  e.,  before  the  door  of  the  taber- 
nacle. But  even  the  sin-offering  is  not  the  sym- 
bol of  a  death-sentence,  but  the  expiation  of  a 
guilt  which  would  have  led  to  death  if  it  had 
not  been  atoned  for  before  the  gracious  Jehovah. 
For  a  known  mortal  sin  (Num.  xv.  30)  is  not 
expiated  by  offerings,  but  is  punished  with  death  ; 
it  makes  the  sinner  a  hhtrem.  The  system  of 
sacrificial  expiation  in  general  is  instituted  only 
for  sins  committed  in  weakness  (Lev.  iv.  2.  27). 
Hence  the  sin-offering  is  composed  of  dift'crcnt 
elements.  First,  the  offering  of  blood.  With- 
out the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  expiation 


(Heb.  ix.  22) ;  it  designates  the  deathly  earnest- 
ness, the  death-defying  courage,  by  means  of 
which  all  the  disorders  of  the  religious  and  moral 
nature  are  rectified.  A  part  of  the  blood  of  the 
sin-offering  is  put  on  the  horns  of  the  altar,  thus 
perfecting  the  sinner's  refuge:  the  greater  part 
of  it  is  poured  out  at  tlie  base  of  the  altar;  i.  e., 
submission  to  the  judgment  of  God  constitutes 
expiation.  It  is  an  incorrect  representation  of 
Keil's  that,  "whereas,  according  to  the  general 
rule  for  the  sin-offerings  whose  flesh  was  burned 
outside  of  the  camp,  the  blood  was  brought  into 
the  holy  place  itself  (Lev.  vi.  23  [30]),  it  is  here 
only  put  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  in  order  to 
give  this  sin-offering  the  character  of  a  consecra- 
lory  offering."  Tnis  is  contradicted  by  Lev.  iv. 
7,  18,  2.5,  30.  The  blood  was  always  poured  out 
at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt  offeiing,  while 
only  a  little  of  it  comes  into  the  holy  place,  espe- 
cially upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  incense,  vid. 
Lev.  iv.  7  sqq.  The  difference,  therefore,  can  be 
only  that  here  the  blood  of  sprinkling  was  put 
upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and 
it  is  to  be  remarked  that  nothing  has  yet  beeu 
said  of  the  altar  of  incense. — And  the  fat. 
The  bloom  of  life,  even  in  the  case  of  the  tragi- 
cally guilty, — that  which  is  deposited  on  his 
entrails,  his  physical  nature,  on  his  liver  or  on 
his  nobler  affections,  on  his  reins,  which  through 
their  effects  might  symbolize  the  conscience  (Ps. 
xvi.  7),— this  falls  to  Jehovah  as  His  part;  that 
it  has  ministered  to  Him  in  His  actual  govern- 
ment, of  men,  is  expressed  by  their  being  offered 
to  Him  in  fire  on  the  altar.  Thus  one  feature  of 
the  burnt-offering  belongs  also  to  the  sin-offer- 
ing. The  fat  of  the  offering,  or  the  bloom  of 
life,  all  falls  to  Jehovah  as  His  part  (Lev.  iv.  31, 
35).  But  the  sin-offering  has  also  one  feature 
that  belongs  to  the  hherem:  the  flesh,  skin,  and 
dung  of  the  sin-offering  are  burnt  outside  before 
the  camp;  they  are  given  back  to  the  old  earth  of 
the  old  man  as  a  symbol  of  the  sinner's  outward 
mode  of  life.— It  is  a  burnt-offering,  vers.  15- 
18.  The  first  ram  denotes  the  offering  up  to 
Jehovah  of  the  whole  conduct  of  life,  not  through 
death,  but  in  life  itself  (Rom.  xii.  1).  Here  the 
blood  is  sprinkled  round  about  on  the  altar:  this 
expresses  one's  complete,  voluntary  surrender, 
and  readiness  to  die  while  yet  living.  The  whole 
ram  (after  the  removal  of  the  skin  and  the  un- 
clean parts)  is  cut  in  pieces  and  burnt  upon  the 
altar  together  with  the  inwards  and  thighs;  it  all 
goes  up  in  the  fire  of  that  gracious  sovereignty 
which  saves  while  it  judges  ;  and  surely  such  an 
offering  of  life  is  a  sweet  savor,  a  fire-offering  to 
Jehovah.  The  other  ram,  designed  as  an  offering 
of  consecration,  or  as  Aaron's  peace-offering,  or 
as  a  tcelfare  offering  (vers.  19-28),  is  likewise 
offered  in  accordance  with  its  design.  The  blood, 
or  the  readiness  for  death,  is  first  of  all  put  upon 
the  ear-lap  of  Aaron  and  his  sons:  obedience, 
as  spiritual  hearing,  is  the  first  duty,  especially 
of  the  priests.  Next,  the  hand,  as  symbolizing 
human  activity,  is  specially  consecrated  by  being 
sprinkled  with  blood;  finally,  the  great  toe  of 
the  right  foot,  as  symbolizing  the  walk  of  life  in 
general.  After  this  the  blood,  which  in  this  case 
also  is  sprinkled  around  the  altar,  in  order  to 
express  the  most  complete  surrender,  is  taken 
again  in  part  from  the  altar,  and  together  with 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI.  18. 


125 


eome  of  the  anointing  oil  is  sprinkled  upon  Aaron 
and  his  clothes,  and  on  his  sons  and  their  clothes. 
Devotion  to  God  and  to  a  spiritual  life  is  to  con- 
secrate, first  of  all,  the  priests'  character,  but 
also  their  ofEcial  life.  Next  follows  the  burnt- 
offering  as  a  f  ictor  in  the  cousecratory  offering 
of  the  priests.  Together  with  the  fat  already 
specified,  the  ram's  tail  also  and  the  kidneys 
themselves  are  devoted  to  the  fire;  i.  e.,  the  vigor 
of  life,  comfort,  and  conscientiousness  are  conse- 
crated to  God,  being  united  with  a  part  of  the 
meal-offering,  closely  related  as  it  is  to  the 
peace-offering,  viz.,  with  three  different  articles 
from  the  basket.  These  sacrificial  gifts,  how- 
ever, are  not  at  once  burnt  up.  It  must  be  made 
evident  that  they  are  offerings  of  the  priests; 
hence  they  are  laid  upon  their  hands.  But,  to- 
gether with  Iheir  hands,  they  are  waved,  ;.  e., 
moved  to  and  fro.  What  does  that  mean?  It 
costs  labor,  a  struggle,  a  shaking  loose,  before 
the  priests  are  ready  voluntarily  to  give  back 
their  emoluments,  their  fulness,  to  Jehovah  ;  as 
history  teaches.  All  the  more  then  what  is  really 
offered  is  a  sweet  savor  before  the  Lord,  a  fire- 
offering  to  Him.  But  now  Moses  himself  gets 
his  part  of  the  priestly  offering,  the  breast  of 
the  ram.  History  also  amply  proves  that  this 
part  of  the  fulness  of  the  sacerdotal  revenue  that 
is  given  back  to  the  prophet  and  prince,  to  the 
spiritual  and  political  lite  in  the  theocracy,  mnst 
be  waved,  must  be  shaken  loo.<!e.  The  thigli, 
however,  falls  to  Aaron  and  his  sons;  in  this 
connection  the  waving  is  less  prominent  than  t  be 
heaving,  or  is  altogether  given  up.  As  nothing 
is  said  of  the  disposition  of  other  parts  of  the 
ram,  it  is  probable  that  the  neck  and  head  were 
joined  with  the  breast  for  Moses,  and  that  all 
the  rest  of  the  body  went  with  the  thigh.  In 
this  sense  the  heave-offerings  were  to  revert  to 
Jehovah;  Ihey  are  taken  away  from  the  peace- 
offerings  and  heave-offerings  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  He  gives  them  to  His  priests.  Vid. 
also  ver.  3'^. 

The  preroyatives  of  the  priests,  vers.  29-35  (viil. 
also  ver.  2S.]  In  the  foregoing  verse  the  reversion 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  consecratory  offering 
to  the  priest  is  designated  as  also  belonging  to 
the  sacerdotal  prerogatives.  It  is  tlie  central 
item  in  his  revenue,  the  particulars  of  which  are 
specified  afterwards.  In  what  now  follows  the 
hereditary  prerogatives  of  the  priests  are  first 
named.  The  sacerdotal  dignity  of  Aaron  passes 
over,  with  its  symbol,  the  sacred  garments,  to 
his  sons,  according  to  the  right  of  primogeniture 
of  course,  and  gives  them  a  right  to  the  anoint- 
ing and  to  the  filling  of  the  hands.  The  rite  of 
consecration  is  to  last  seven  days.  During  this 
time  Aaron  and  his  sons  live  on  the  offering  of 
consecration  in  the  court;  their  food  is  exclu- 
sively sacred  food  belonging  to  priests  and  to  fes- 
tivals; hence  what  is  left  over  is  burnt.  Further- 
more one  bullock  a  day  is  slaughtered  as  a  sin- 
offering. 
4.  The  Sanctification  of  the  Altar.     Vers.  36-46. 

The  consecration  of  the  priests  is  accompanied 
by  that  of  the  altar.  When  Moses  brings  the  sin- 
offering  for  the  priests,  he  at  the  same  time 
makes  atonement  for  the  altar,  which,  although 
holy  in  itself,  was  built  by  sinful  men,  and  in  a 
tymbolic  sense  is  to  be  cleansed  from  defilement. 


(  Vid.  Keil  onLev.  viii.  15)  [who  explains  the  cere- 
monial uncleanness  of  the  altar  as  caused  by  the 
sinfulness  of  the  ofiiciating  priests].  But  as  yet 
there  can  be  no  reference  to  this  source  of  im- 
purity ;  for  in  that  case  how  could  the  priests 
ever  make  atonement  for  the  altar?  It  was  to 
be  consecrated  by  tvio  acts:  negatively,  by  the 
atonement,  positively,  by  the  anointment.  The 
anointment  of  the  altar  can  signify  only  that  it  ig 
to  be  dedicated  exclusively  to  the  spiritual  life, 
to  the  spiritual  object  of  the  altar  service.  At 
the  same  time  the  altar  is  declared  to  be  designed 
for  permanent  use.  Two  yearling  lambs  are 
offered  each  day,  one  in  the  morning,  the  other 
at  evening,  i.  e.,  in  their  tender  youth  the  peo- 
ple of  God  are  to  dedicate  themselves  to  Jeho- 
vah, not  only  for  the  life  of  the  day,  but  also  for 
that  of  the  night.  The  meal-offering,  like  the 
sacrifice,  is  the  same  for  the  morning  as  for  the 
evening.  The  tenth  part  (of  an  ephah),  or  the 
issaron  (an  omer),  as  a  measure  of  grain  or  flour 
is  variously  reckoned  (vid.  Knobel,  p.  2!»5):  pro- 
bably, according  to  Knobel,  somewhat  more  thaa 
a  Dresden  measure,  or  2}  Dresden  pounds.*  The 
oil  with  which  the  flour  is  mingled  is  to  be  ob- 
tained by  pounding.  "In  the  case  of  no  other 
offering  is  beaten  oil  prescribed"  (Knobel).  The 
hin,  as  a  liquid  measure,  is  the  sixth  part  of  a 
baih.  and  contains  12  logs,  reckoned  by  Thenius 
( Siudien  und  Kritiken,  1846)  as  equivalent  to  3 
Dresden  cans  [such  a  can  containing  about  71 
cubic  inches,  or  about  1  English  quartj.  The 
wheat  symbolizes  vital  force,  or  even  fat ;  the 
wine  always  symbolizes  joy.  This  burnt  oBering 
is  the  whole-offering,  signifying  that  the  life  all 
goes  up  in  self-surrender  to  Jehovah;  hence 
also  this  will  be  responded  to  by  a  complete  si-lf- 
communicalion  of  Jehovah,  a  revelation  of  His 
glory,  this  itself  having  been  in  fact  the  cause  of 
Israel's  self-surrender  or  holiness  (vers.  43,  44). 
The  text  plainly  distinguishes  a  higher  kind  of 
sanctification  from  the  symbolic  one  of  the  law, 
which  proceeds  from  man.  That  higher  sancti- 
fication is  to  proceed  from  Jehovah  Himself.  The 
place  of  the  offering  is  to  be  sanctified  by  the  glory 
of  Jehovah;  in  particular,  the  tent,  tlie  altar,  the 
high-priest  and  his  sons.  The  aim  of  this  institu- 
tion points  on  into  the  N.  T.  and  the  Apocalypse: 
Jehovah  desires  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Israel 
and  to  be  the  God  of  His  people. 

5.  The  Altar  of  Incense.  Chap.  xxx.  1-10. 
The  reason  why  the  directions  concerning  the 
altar  of  incense  are  given  so  late  is  seen  in  the 
design  of  it,  which  puts  it  among  the  things 
direc'ly  connected  with  the  ritual  worship;  also 
in  the  fact  that  it  marks  the  last  point  in  the 
movement  of  the  priest  towards  the  Holy  of  ho- 
lies, the  highest  point  in  the  ritual  before  the 
entrance  into  the  Holy  of  holies.  This  eminent 
position  is  even  indicated  in  the  circumstance 
that,  being  slender  in  form,  gilt  all  over,  adorned 
besides  with  a  golden  rim,  furnished  with  golden 
rings,  even  with  golden  staves  to  carry  it  with, 
it  stands  at  the  middle  of  the  veil  of  the  Holy  of 
holies,  bearing  a  direct  relation  to  the  mercy- 
seat.     For  this  reason  we  would  rather   find   a 


*  [.^ccorftinff  to  Smitll's  Bihh.  Dic/innary.  .\rt.  Wftfjhl. 
M'iastirfji.  imibalily  a  Iillle  Ic^s  tti;in  two  .juarls.  But 
phus  mukea  it  about  twice  aa  mucli.— I'li.]. 


126  EXO 

theological  idea  than  an  archaeological  error  in 
that  passage  of  the  Epistle  to  the' Hebrews  (ix. 
4)  which  puts  it  in  the  Holy  of  holies.  For  this 
is  the  altar  which  by  its  incense  symbolizes  the 
prayer  of  the  high-priest  (Rev.  v.  8;  Heb.  v.  7). 
On  "the  day  of  atonement  (according  to  Lev.  xvi. 
13)  the  incense  is  to  be  carried  into  the  Holy 
of  holies  and  fill  the  whole  room.  The  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing are  here  to  find  their  higher  expression  in 
the  fragrant  incense  which  Aaron  has  to  oifer 
morning  and  evening  in  the  holy  place;  and  it 
is  not  without  significance  that  this  incense  is 
intimately  connected  with  those  sacrifices.  In 
the  morning  he  is  to  burn  incense  when  he 
trims  the  lamps,  and  in  the  evening  when  he 
lights  them;  for  without  illumination  and  the 
light  of  knowledge  even  hii  prayer  does  not 
attain  its  higher  form  of  sacerdotal  intercession. 
The  incense,  moreover,  is  to  be  a  perpetual  one 
before  .Jehovah,  and  so  to  continue  throughout 
the  future  generations.  This  implies  the  exclu- 
sion, in  Ihe  first  place,  of  common  incense,  for 
not  all  prayers  are  true  prayers,  e.  g.  those  of 
selfishne'is' and  fanaticism;  secondly,  of  the 
burnt-oflfering,  for  here  the  material  point  is  the 
offering  of  the  heart,  not  mortifications  of  the 
body;  finally,  of  meal-offerings  and  drink-offer- 
ings, for  prayer  requires  abstemiousness.  Fi- 
nally, the  altar  of  prayer  is  to  have  its  horns 
sprinkled  once  a  year  with  the  blood  of  the  sin- 
offering  as  an  atonement.  This  doubtless  was  si- 
multaneous with  the  sprinkling  of  the  mercy-seat, 
but  had  not  the  same  meaning.  The  expiation  is 
offered  to  the  mercy-seat;  the  altar  of  incense  is 
covered  with  the  expiation  newly  dedicated  by  it. 

6.  The  Assessments  for  the  Temple.  Vers.  11-16. 
It  should  be  here  observed  that  in  this  section 
there  is  no  reference  to  the  temporary  work  of 
building  the  tabernacle,  but  to  those  things 
which  enter  into  the  regular  ritual  service  which 
is  to  continue  through  future  time.  It  is  there- 
fore certainly  an  error  when  Keil  and  Knobel 
start  out  with  the  notion  that  the  shekel  or  half- 
shekel  of  the  sanctuary  is  to  be  expended  once 
for  all  on  Ihe  erection  of  the  tabernacle.  The 
tabernacle  itself  was  to  be  built  from  voluntary 
contributions  (xxxv.  .5),  not  from  legally  imposed 
taxes,  and  in  this  voluntary  way  more  was  given 
than  was  needed  (xxxvi.  5  sqq.)  Moreover, 
the  designation  of  the  use  of  the  money, 
-\pO  Snx  ninj?-'?;;  ["for  the  service  of  the 
tent  of  meeting,"  ver.  IG],  does  not  mean:  for 
the  work  of  the  building,  but:  for  the  perpetual 
service  of  God  in  the  building.  This  is  implied 
also  in  Luther's  translation  [and  in  the  A.  V.]. 
Moreover,  it  is  said,  that  this  tax  is  to  be  col- 
lected from  the  Israelites  when  Ihe  census  of  the 
ad'ult  males  is  taken.  But  such  an  enumeration 
did  not  take  place  till  after  the  tabernacle  was 
erected  .(Num.  i.  1-18).*  These  enumerations, 
too,  had  to  be  repeated  from  time  to  lime.  The 
question  is  easily  solved  when  we  reflect  on 

•  (Kflil  and  Knobel  infer  from  x.xxviii.  26  that  a  c< 
WM  taken  before  tlfe  tahernaclo  was  finished,  and  tlia 
one  mentioned  in  Num.  i.  is  tlie  sumo  thing  more  formally 
executed  and  recorded.  Ttie  identity  of  the  numbers  in 
xxxviii.  26  and  Num.  i.  46  aeema  to  favor  this  Buiii.oaition. 
— Te.) 


continuous  pecuniary  demands  made  by  the 
sacrificial  service.  Besides  the  personal  occa- 
sions for  special  offerings  (Lev.  i.  sqq.l,  a  per- 
peiual  sacrificial  service  was  ordained.  For 
this  service  (xxix.  38  and  in  this  place.), 
which  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  great 
offering  at  the  dedication  of  the  tabernacle 
(Num.  vii.),  and  not  less  from  the  consecratory 
offerings  or  heave-offerings  for  tlie  priests 
(Ex.  xxix.  9  sqq.).  a  legally-imposed  tax  for  the 
temple  was  necessary ;  for  the  priests  had  them- 
selves no  means  for  it.  This  explains  also  how 
ihis  contribution  serves  for  expiation  (ver.  12) ; 
it  did  not  do  this  directly,  but  because  it  served 
for  the  permanent  expiation  of  the  people  by 
means  of  the  offerings.  In  this  connection  it  is 
important  to  observe  the  directions,  that  only 
adult  men  make  the  contribution  for  this  expia- 
tion, and  that  every  man,  as  representative  of 
the  whole  congregation  of  Ihe  people,  without 
distinction  of  poor  and  rich,  contributed  the 
same  amount,  viz.  half  a  shekel.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  the  census  this  tax  had  also  to  be 
paid  by  the  Levites.  The  sacred  shekel,  differ- 
ent from  the  common  one,  is  afterwards  more 
exactly  defined;  and  as  the  half-shekel  amounted 
to  13  groschen  [i.  e.,  31  cents,  or  1  shilling  and 
3  pence;  hut,  vid.  note  on  p.  91],  the  tax  could 
not  fall  heavily  on  any  man  able  to  bear  arms. 
Only  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  taxation — 
as  well  as  the  census  itself — is  imposed  on  the 
adult  members  of  the  political  congregation  of 
the  people.  By  this  payment  Ihe  consecrated 
congregation  of  the  people  is  distinguished  from 
a  people  in  the  unconsecrated  state  of  nature. — 
133  is  the  term  applied  to  the  payment  on 
account  of  the  use  for  which  it  was  designed. 
So  also  the  enumeration  is  indirectly  an  enume- 
ration, or  review,  which  Jehovah  iustiiuies  with 
His  people.  It  is  true  that  in  the  voluntary 
gifts  of  silver  for  the  building  of  the  sanctuary 
the  precept  concerning  the  half-shekel  was  taken 
as  a  standard.* 

7.  The  Laver.  Vers.  17-21  (xxxviii.  8). 
The  command  concerning  the  copper  laver  is 
not,  as  some  would  think,  to  be  regarded  as  a 
supplementary  direction:  it  is  connected  with 
the  foregoing  as  being  the  last  thing  through 
the  medium  of  which  Ihe  regular  services  of  Ihe 
tabernacle  were  carried  on.  The  expiation 
which  Ihe  Israelites  have  to  pay  for  wilh  the 
half-shekel  applies  to  the  Levites  and  priests 
(comp.  Matt.  xvii.  2.5,  where  no  exception  seems 
to  be  made).  Besides  this  there  were  special 
expiations  for  the  priests,  when  they  were  con- 
secrated, and  on  Ihe  day  of  atonement.  But  all 
Ihis  was  not  sufficient  to  make  them  appear  as 
pure  men  in  reference  to  their  daily  deportment. 
They  were  obliged  on  penalty  of  death  to  wash 
their  hands  and  feet,  when  they  were  about  to 
enter  the  inner  sanctuary,  or  even  only  to  ap- 
proach Ihe  altar  of  burnt-offering  to  minister. 

-  fr-z  r  r  !■-■  •  ->  Th^  nl-'',T-in^i>ti'-'Ti--"l  r-.-Trpsiiondence  be- 
t\^,,  ,.vv  y  ■:<  iii.i  \-,-i  :  1'.  l.ii^_'  ,>ii]i;irently  makes 
,1,,.  I     I;,  .   ;      ; ,;  ,  II,.'  \.  ,  ,'i!'ii  \  I'i-iisof  the  people 


tl  J  une-balf  a  shekel 


CHAP.  XXV.  1— XXXI. 


127 


This  washing  symbolizes  a  purification  from  the 
daily  (even  unconscious)  defilements.  Later 
the  Pharisees  applied  the  practice  of  washing 
the  hands  also  to  preparation  for  the  daily  meals 
(Mark  vii.  3  sqq.);  and  little  as  Christ  sanc- 
tioned this  ordinance,  He  yet  made  the  washing 
of  the  feet  a  highly  significant  transaction  be- 
fore the  Passover  meal  and  the  first  Lord's  sup- 
per.— As  to  the  base  (]3)  of  the  laver  in  parti- 
cular, the  passage  sxxviii.  8  has  led  to  extended 
discussions.  The  expression  nstsa,  etc.,  may 
mean  "from  [of]  the  mirrors,"  as  the  LXX. 
and  Vulg.  translate.  This  explanation  is  re- 
duced to  an  ascetic  or  pietistic  form  by  Heng- 
stenberg,  who  says  that  what  heretofore  bad 
served  as  a  means  of  gaining  the  good-will  of 
the  world  was  henceforth  to  become  a  means  of 
gaining  the  good-will  of  God.  According  to 
this,  then,  there  ought  to  be  no  mirrors  in  pious 
bouseholds,  and  especially  none  in  a  pastor's 
robing-room.  We  would  confidently  [with  Biihr] 
render:  "[provided]  with  women's  mirrors," 
were  it  not  that  brass  itself  had  been  used  for 
metal  mirrors,  and  that  3  might  also  mean 
"as,"  "in  the  character  of,"  according  to  which 
the  passage  would  mean:  "to  serve  as  mirrors 
for  women."* — Observing  here  again  the  general 
connection,  we  see  that  the  topic  is  not  the  erec- 
tion of  the  tabernacle,  but  life  in  the  tabernacle 
as  marked  by  the  sacred  utensils  permanently 
belonging  to  it.  Furthermore,  it  is  clear  that 
reference  is  made  to  crowds  of  women  who  were 
to  come  into  the  court.  Keil,  it  is  true,  observes 
with  regard  to  the  character  of  these  women : 

"  The  nsai  are  indeed,  according  to  1  Sara.  i.  22, 
women:  not  washer-women,  however,  but  women 
who  devoted  their  lives  to  pious  exercises,"  etc. 
But,  it  may  be  asked,  might  not  the  pious  exer- 
cises consist  just  in  the  washing  of  the  sanctuary 
and  keeping  it  clean  ?  Or  could  not  the  women 
who  did  the  washing  be  pious  women  ?  Luther, 
it  is  well  known,  thought  otherwise.  Knobel 
rem.irks,  with  entire  correctness,  that  before 
the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  there  could  be 
nothing  said  of  women  coming  into  the  court  of 
the  tabernacle ;  but  he  adds  a  most  singular 
explanation  of  the  passage.  Furthermore,  we 
must  ask,  what  could  here  be  the  use  of  the  ex- 

*  [Ttiis  certainty  is  net  :i  -HI -I.  i-i  1  .■.il.n.i'  i  Niii 
to  TUL'Dtion  that  grammati  ii'        :    -il-     I    .   ;  n    is 

almost  iui'onceivalile  tb;il   il  1  ^  !, 


by".l.. 

themselves  in  a  sort 
there  to  wasli,  tii  r 
agree  with  liira  that 
vessel  which  was  lor 

ol  IJIihr's,  vh.  tliat  D 

'sn'ch  fisiires  were  approi 
the  priests  to  wash  from." 

■  "Probably 

in   the  sense  of  "a 
Keil  8  statement,  tlla 

companies  by"  or  "furii 
t  3  "never  signifles  V}Uh 

;!",i„.".:  ii 

of  ontward  a.Mition 
certLinlv  ihat  is  a  r, 
tion,  "made  the  lave 
the  easiest;  leit  it  i» 
He.,p.tenherg'a    the 

'  Is  too  strong  (comp.  Ps.  Ixvi.  13);  hut 
re  use  of  the  preposiHon.    The  transla- 
r  of  brass  ....  of  the  mirrors,"  etc.,  is 
not  necessary  in  adopting  it  to  adopt 
ory  of  the  Bigniflcance  of  the  thing. 

pression,  "out  of  the  mirrors  of  the  women," 
since  it  is  related  beforehand  that  all  the  mate- 
rials for  the  building  and  its  furniture  were  fur- 
nished voluntarily  and  in  the  mass  ?*  The  LXX. 
seem  first  to  have  invented  this  ascetic  notion — 
one  which  in  the  connection  has  no  sense  at  all. 
As  to  this  cimnection,  however,  we  are  to  ob- 
serve that  this  base  sustained  the  laver  of  the 
priests.  If  now  they  had  to  cleanse  themselves 
in  preparation  for  their  service,  is  it  not  to  be 
expected  that  a  similar  command  was  imposed 
on  the  women  who  kept  the  court  in  order? 
To  be  sure,  they  could  not  wash  themselves  in 
the  court,  at  least  not  their  feet,  from  considera- 
tions of  modesiy;  and  they  did  not  need  to  do 
it,  since  they  did  not  have  to  touch  the  altar. 
But  they  were  quite  fittingly  reminded  of  their 
duty  to  appear  comely  by  the  mirrors  of  the 
base,!  on  which  the  laver  rested,  and  in  which 
the  priests  were  to  cleanse  themselves.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  this  use  of  the  base  was  for  the 
purposes  of  symbolic  admonition  rather  than 
of  the  toilette.  We  also  tind  it  more  natural 
that  the  mirror,  at  its  first  appearance  in  the 
Scriptures,  should  receive  this  higher  symbolic 
significance,  according  to  which  the  law  is  also 
called  a  mirror,  than  that  it  should  at  the  outset 
be  proscribed  with  the  remark,  that  henceforth 
the  pious  women  used  no  more  mirrors.  In  its 
spiritual  sense  the  washing  of  the  priests  is  also 
a  perpetual  ordinance. 

8.  The  Sohj  Anointing  Oil.  Vers.  22-33. 
In  the  case  of  the  anointing  oil,  it  is  at  once 
obvious  that  it  is  not  designed  to  be  used  simply 
at  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle.  In  the  first 
place,  direction  is  given  of  what  materials  and 
in  what  proportions  it  shall  be  compounded; 
next,  the  use  of  the  oil  is  stated,  i.  e.,  to  anoint 
the  several  parts  of  the  sanctuary;  finally,  there 
is  enunciated  the  sternest  prohibition  against 
any  imitation  of  this  sacred  anointing  oil  for 
common  use.  The  number  four  being  the  mun- 
dane number  [the  four  points  of  the  compass], 
the  union  of  four  fragrant  spices  with  olive  oil 
indicates  that  the  sanctuary  is  to  be  dedicated 
with  the  noblest  of  the  world's  products,  as  com- 
bined with  the  oil  of  unction,  the  spirit  of  the 
sanctuary.  If  one  were  to  look  for  pairs  of  op- 
posiles,  myrrh  and  cinnamon  might  be  taken  as 
related  to  one  another;  so  calamus  and  cassia. 
It  might  be  said  of  the  myrrh,  that  it  denotes  that 
fine,  higher  kind  of  pain  which  enables  one  to 
overcome  natural  pain  ;  cinnamon  denotes  the 
warmest  feeling  of  light  and  life;  the  bitterness 
of  calamus  might  also  be  noticed;  but  the  signi- 
ficance of  the  cassia   is   difficult  to  determine. 


[The  use  of  the  observation  was  to  state  a  fact.  And 
3  supposition  is  in  no  way  interf -red  with  by  the  circum- 
nce  that  the  contributions  for  the  tabernacle  were  made 

untirily.~TR.l 
rtnnL'"  oivlfTPtands  that  only  the  base,  not  tlie  whole 
[,  \v,,H  immIi.  to  serve  for  this  purpose.  The  attempt 
ill  lluws  to  meet  the  obvious  objection  to  his 
,  '  I  r  ilie  use  attributed  to  this  copper  base  is 
I  Ml  '  ;  I  iiil:  with  the  tenor  of  the  narrative,  is  rather 
uii.  I       1:       .vnili.Oir   w^i-  r^rtiiiulv  ciiiinof  cxclude  the 

'"I  "-      I' !■  -  liiiMti'iii.  thi-r-f ...-,  1,111-1  s-;m,l  that  the 

e  (ov  tin-  «I>.1  .  l.n.  I  «.,,  ,,„„], .  11,  ,,i,j,  1  I,,  MTve  for  the 
P"S Miir.i-  1..I    til.,   iiiteiiiluil    u-MN.ii.     lint  if  the 


■With  this  ointment  everything  ia  the  sanctuary 
is  anointed,  Aaron  not  excepted.  But  it  is  pro- 
nounced to  be  a,  most  severe  and  punishable 
oflFence  for  common  men  to  aspire  to  make  this 
composition  (this  reconciliation)  of  the  spiritual 
perfumes  of  the  world  and  the  spiritual  oil  of 
the  sanctuary.  On  the  anointing  oil  vid.  Biihr, 
Si/mbolik  II.,  p.  1V3.  The  correct  method  of  pre- 
paring it  is  called  a  sacred  art. 

9.   The  Uoli/  Incense.     Vers.  34-38. 

As  in  the  anointing  oil  four  kinds  of  spices  are 
combined  with  oil  as  the  base  of  the  ointment 
and  are  subsidiary  to  it,  so  it  is  here  the  pure 
frankincense  which  constitutes  the  base;  but  the 
spices  combined  with  it  are  three  in  number. 
Inasmuch  as  the  incense  certainly  symbolizes 
prayer  (Ps.  cxli.  2),  we  may  natui-ally  look  for 
three  principal  occasions  of  prayer.  The  first 
and  noblest  resembles  the  spontaneous  exuda- 
tion of  trees,  suggesting  the  breathings  of  prayer 
prompted  by  the  higher  life.  The  second  sub- 
stance is  a  pulverized  shell  of  a  mollusk— some- 
thing obtained  by  crushing;  the  meaning  of  this 
is  readily* understood,  vid.  Ps.  li.  19  [17].  "Ac- 
cording to  modern  authorities,  when  burnt  alone 
it  (the  onycha)  has  a  bad  odor;  but  everywhere, 
e.  g.,  in  India,  it  is  made  the  fundamental  ingre- 
dient of  incense,  and  imparts  to  the  materials 
of  the  incense  their  real  strength"  (Knobel). 
The  third  substance,  galbanum,  being  used  as 
an  antidote  to  the  most  diverse  injurious  forces, 
seems  fitted  to  denote  the  divine  remedial  force 
in  the  soul,  as  being  liable  to  be  irritated  by  the 
most  manifold  injurious  influences.  Says  Kno- 
bel: "I  had  the  sacred  incense  of  the  Hebrews 
prepared  in  the  laboratory  of  Prof.  Mettenheimer 
in  Giesseu;  I  tested  it,  and  found  its  odor  strong, 
refreshing,  and  very  agreeable."  In  this  case  the 
ingredients  are  of  equal  weight;  the  rigorous  pro- 
hibition of  imitation  for  common  use  is  the  same. 
This  may  symbolize  that  prayer  is  not  to  be  used 
for  selfish  or  worldly  purposes.  It  is  incorrect, 
with  Knobel,  to  say  that  the  incense  consists  of 
the  same  number  of  ingredients  as  the  anointing 
oil. 

IV.   The  Architects.     Chap.  xsxi.  1-11. 

The  summoning  of  Bezaleel  and  his  assistants, 
Aholiab  and  other  master-workmen,  is  at  once 
a  definition  of  sacred  art  and  a  recognition  of 
natural  artistic  talent.  The  idea  of  the  sanctu- 
ary is  indeed  a  gift  of  Jehovah,  transmitted  by 
Moses  to  Bezaleel.  Yet  even  in  the  wider  sense 
the  fact  respecting  art  is  that  the  artist  exhibits 
himself  more  purely,  the  more  he  follows  objec- 
tive images,  found  in  actual  life,  and  formed  by 
God.  Tliis  limitation  does  not  exclude  the  ori- 
ginality of  the  wise-hearted;  but  it  shows  itself 
in  four  ways:  (1)  In  the  plastic  impulse,  or  the 
talent  of  construction,  such  as  was  shown  by 
Wisdom,  as  artist,  at  the  formation  of  the  earth 
(Gen.  i. ;  Prov.  viii.).  Wisdom  effects  the  execu- 
tion of  the  impulse  in  beautiful  phenomenal 
forms.  (2)  But  what  she  creates  in  general, 
must  be  realized  in  particular  by  perception,  or 
poo  1  Ben«e.  in  its  patient  studies.  Tlien  (3)  in 
orilcr  to  true  creation  there  is  needr-d  further- 
more, on  the  one  hand,  knowledge,  in  the  form 


of  ideal  reflection,  standing  over  the  plastic  im- 
pulse, and,  on  the  other  hand,  (4)  practical  un- 
derstanding, such  as  enables  one  to  work  up  the 
material.  But  the  artistic  talent  of  the  "wise- 
hearted"  becomes  sacred  art  only  through  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Keil  understands  by  this  a  super- 
natural endowment.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
there  is  something  supernatural  in  every  sancti- 
ficatiou  of  a  natural  endowment.  But  it  is  a 
(juestion  whether  he  so  meant  it.  As  to  the 
names  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab,  vid.  the  Encyclo- 
pedias. On  the  obscure  expression  "^"^'OJl  '"Ija, 
comp.  Keil.  The  context  confirms  his  assump- 
tion, that  this  phrase  denotes  those  garments 
which  belonged  to  the  high-priest  alone,  while 
the  other  garments  belonged  to  him  and  his  eons 
alike.  See  other  very  divergent  explanations  in 
Keil.  Gesenius  refers  the  word  to  the  curtains 
of  the  tabernacle — an  interpretation  which  does 
not  accord  with  the  explanatory  expression,  ''to 
do  service  in  the  holy  place"  [xxxv.  19].  Per- 
haps, in  accordance  with  the  meaning  of  H^H  II. 
[in  Gesenius],  the  phrase  may  designate  an  ex- 
ceptional kind  of  clothing,  to  be  distinguished 
from  all  other  garments. 

V.  The  Condition  of  Vitality  in  the  Ritual  Wor- 
ship,  the  Sabbath,  vers.  12-17.  Conclusion, 
ver.  18. 

The  reason  why  (he  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
is  here  again  so  strictly  inculcated,  Keil  finds  in 
the  fact  that  one  might  easily  regard  the  neglect 
of  the  observance  as  permissible  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  great  work  designed  for  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  Similarly  Knobel.  But  the  perpetual 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  here  enjoined — a 
fact  which  Keil  himself  afterwards  notices,  but 
which  does  not  accord  with  this  merely  outward 
reason  for  the  injunction.  It  should  also  be  ob- 
served that  in  xxxv.  1  sqq.  the  command  respect- 
ing the  Sabbath  recurs  again,  and  this  time  pre- 
cedes the  order  concerning  the  erection  of  the 
tabernacle.  The  Sabbath  belonged  as  essentially 
to  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  as  the  Christian 
Sunday  to  Christian  worship. — A  sign  between 
me  and  you.  /.  e.,  so  to  speak,  the  public 
symbol  of  tlie  relation  between  Jehovah  and 
Israel.  Hence  breaking  the  Sabbath  is  punished 
as  a  capital  crime.  This  doom  is  twice  de- 
nounced, and  the  Sabbath  itself  is  called  by  the 
emphatic  name  |'in3i;/  03^.  "  Properly,"  says 
Knobel,  "rest  of  restfulness  [Ruhe  der  Ruhigkeitl 
i.  e.,  entire  rest,  complete  abandonment  of  busi- 
ness, the  combination  of  synonyms  (?)  enhancing 
the  notion  {vid.  x.  22).  This  term  is  applied 
only  to  the  Sabbath  (xxxv.  2;  Lev.  xxiii.  3),  the 
day  of  atonement  (Lev.  xvi.  31;  xxiii.  32),  and  to 
the  Sabbatical  year  (Lev.  xxv.  4)  "—Keil  feels 
constrained  to  take  the  words  of  ver.  18  literally. 
According  to  xxxii.  16  the  tables  also  are  a  work 
of  God.  Only,  he  says,  we  are  not  to  think  of 
a  bodily  finger  of  God  as  implied  in  the  state- 
ment about  the  tables  being  written  with  His 
finger.  It  is  true  that  Moses'  co-operation  with 
Jehov.ah  (for  he  did  not  need  to  be  on  the  moun- 
tain forty  days  merely  in  order  to  receive  the 
tables)  is  to  be  conceived  as  absolutely  merged 
in  God's  authority  and  authorship.     Conjectures 


CHAP.  XXXII.  1-35. 


on  the  size  of  the  tables  vid.  in  Keil.*     Alleged 
contradictions  vid.  in  Knobel,  p.  310. 


*  [Tlie  tables.  Keil  remarks,  could  hardly  have  been  a 
and  wide  iiS  the  interior  of  the  ark  (into  which  tbey  were 
for  two  stone  tablets,  each  four  feet  long  and  OTer  t« 


wide,  and  thick  enough  not  to  break  with  their  own  weight, 
must  have  been  too  heavy  for  any  one  but  a  Samson  to  carry 
down  the  mountain.  As  they  were  written  on  both  sid^s, 
and  had  to  contain  only  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  words, 
a  length  of  about  two'feet  and  a  width  of  one  and  a  half  feet 
would  have  been  ample.— Te.] 


THIRD  DIVISION. 

THE  LEGISLATION  AS  MODIFIED  BY  THE  LAPSE  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  AND  THE  INTENSI- 
FIED DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  JEHOVAH  AND  ISRAEL  AS  EXPRESSED  IN  THE 
MORE  HIERARCHICAL  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  THEOCRACY. 

Chaps.  XXXII.— XXXIV. 

FIRST    SECTION. 

The  Erection  and  Worship  of  the  Golden  Calf.  God's  Judgment  and  Moses.'  Inter- 
cession. His  Anger.  The  Sentence  of  Destruction  on  the  Golden  Calf,  and  of 
Punishment  on  the  People.     The  Conditional  Pardon. 


A.— THE  GOLDEN  CALF. 
Vers.  1-G. 

1  And  when  the  people  sa'W  that  Moses  delayed  to  come  down  out  of  [down  from] 
the  mount,  the  people  gathered  themselves  together  unto  Aaron,  and  said  unto  him, 
Up,  make  us  gods'  which  shall  go  before  us ;  for  as  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that 

2  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  [know]  not  what  is  become  of  him. 
And  Aaron  said  unto  them,  Break  [Pluck]  off  the  golden  ear-rings  [rings],  which  are 
in  the  ears  of  your  wives,  of  your  sons,  and  of  your  daughters,  and  bring  them  unto 

3  me.     And  all  the  people  brake  [plucked]  off  the  golden  ear-rings  [rings]  which 

4  were  in  their  ears,  and  brought  them  unto  Aaron.  And  he  received  them  at  [took 
them  from]  their  band,  and  fashioned  it  with  a  graving  tool,  after  he  had  made 
[and  he  made]  it  a  molten  calf:'  and  they  said,  These  be  [are]  thy  gods,  O  Israel, 

5  which  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  when  Aaron  saw  (7,_he 
built  an  altar  before  it ;  and  Aaron  made  proclamation,  and  said,  To-morrow  is  a 

6  feast  to  Jehovah.  And  they  rose  up  early  on  the  morrow,  and  offered  burnt- 
offerings,  and  brought  peace-offerings;  and  the  people  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink, 
and  rose  up  to  play. 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Ver.  1.  D^ri  JJ?  is  here  connected  with  a  plural  verb,  and  in  ver.  4  with  a  plural  pronoun,  so  that  the  A.  V.  certainly 
seems  to  be  correct.  'Yet  the  term  is  used  only  of  the  golden  calf,  and  there  is  no  indir^ation  that  it  referred  to  anything 
else.  Probably  the  plural  verb  and  pronoun  a-e  used  for  the  very  purpose  of  distinguishing  the  calf  as  a  false  god — i>ue  tif 
the  many  gods  of  polytheism.  Yet  in  other  cases,  g.  g.,  Judg.  xi.  24 ;  xvi.  23,  24,  the  singular  verb  is  used  of  a  heathen 
god.— Te.] 

2  [We  leave  the  A.  V,  rendering,  only  substituting  "and  he"  for  "after  he  had;"  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
passage  is  obscure.  Kiirat,  Gesenius,  Knobel,  Maurer,  Glaire,  RosenmuUer,  Cook,  Kurtz,  and  others  understand  n*^n  to  be 
=  D'ln  (i"*-  2  Kings  V.  23),  meaning  "a  bag."  It  occurs  only  once  more,  viJ.,  Isa.  viii.  1,  where  it  means  "  a  pen  "  (metal 
style).  If  the  word  here  means  "  bag,"  then  "^i'^l  must  mean  "  bound  up,"  as  indeed  it  most  naturally  does  (coming  from 
"lis,  not  ly"),  though  it  is  also  used  (but  rarely)  in  the  sense  of  "form"  or  "fashion."  We  are  therefore  compelled  to 
decide  mainly  according  to  the  sense.  Against  the  A.  V.  rendering  is  to  he  urged  that  a  molttn  image  would  not  be  made 
with  a  graving  tool.  The  reply,  that  the  tool  was  used  only  to  polish  the  image  after  it  was  cast,  is  a  mere  assumption,  and 
moreover  requires  us  to  resort  to  the  device,  adopted  by  the  A.  V.,  but  unwarranted  by  the  grammatical  construction,  of  in- 
verting  the  natural  relation  of  time  between  the  two  clauses,  "  fashioned  it  with  a  graving  tool,"  and,  "  made  it  a  molten 
culf."     The  other  rendering  would  be:  "He  took  it  from  their  hands,  and  bound  it  up  in  a  bag,"  etc. — Tr.] 


B.— GOD'S  JUDGMENT,  AND  MOSES'  INTERCESSION. 
Vers.  7-14. 

7  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Go,  get  thee  down,  for  thy  people,  which  thou 
broughtest  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  have  corrupted  themselves  [behaved  corruptly] : 

8  They  have  turned  aside  quickly  out  of  the  way  which  I  commanded  them:  they 
have  made  them  a  molten  calf,  and  have  worshipped  it,  and  have  sacrificed  there- 
unto, and  said.  These  be  [are]  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  have  brought  thee  up  out 

9  of  the  land  of  Egypt,     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  I  have  seen  this  people,  and 

10  behold,  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people :  Now  therefore  let  me  alone,  that  my  wrath  may 
was  hot  against  them,  and  that  I  may  consume  them :  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a 

11  great  nation.  And  Moses  besought  Jehovah  his  God,  and  said,  Jehovah,  why  doth 
thy  wrath  wax  hot  against  thy  people,  which  thou  hast  brousht  forth  out  of  the 

12  land  of  Egypt  with  great  power,  and  with  a  mighty  hand  ?  Wherefore  should  the 
Egyptians  speak,  and  say,  For  mischief  [evil]  did  he  bring  them  out,  to  slay  them 
in  the  mountains,  and  to  consume  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth?     Turn  from 

13  thv  tierce  wrath,  and  repent  of  this  evil  against  thy  people.  Remember  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Israel,  thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  swarest  by  thine  own  self,  and  saidst 
unto  them,  I  will  multiply  your  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  all  this  land  that  I 

14  have  spoken  of  will  I  give  unto  your  seed,  and  they  shall  inherit  it  for  ever.  And 
Jehovah  repented  of  the  evil  which  he  thought  [threatened]  to  do  unto  his  people. 

C— THE   TRIAL  AND  PCNISHMENT   OF  AARON. 
Vers.  15-24. 

15  And  ]\Ioses  turned,  and  went  down  from  the  mount,  and  the  two  tables  of  the 
testimony  rvere  in  his  hand :  the  tables  -were  written  on  both  their  sides;  on  the  one 

16  side  and  on  the  other  were  they  written.     And  the  tables  were  the  work  of  God, 

17  and  the  writing  was  the  writing  of  God,  graven  upon  the  tables.  And  when 
Joshua  heard  the  noise   of  the   people   as   they  shouted,   he   said    unto  Moses, 

18  There  is  a  noise  of  war  in  the  camp.  And  he  said.  It  is  not  the  voice  of  them  that 
shout  for  mastery  [noise  of  the  cry  of  victory],  neither  is  it  the  voice  of  them  that 
cry  for  being  overcome  [the  noise  of  the  cry  of  defeat]  :  but  the  noise  of  them  that 

19  sing  [of  singing]  do  I  hear.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  soon  as  he  came  nigh  unto 
the  camp,  that  he  saw  the  calf,  and  the  dancing:  and  Moses'  anger  waxed  hot,  and 

20  he  cast  the  tables  out  of  his  bauds,  and  brake  them  beneath  the  mount.  And  he 
took  the  calf  which  they  had  made,  and  burnt  it  in  the  [with]  fire,  and  groimd  it 
to  powder,  and  strawed  [scattered]  it  upon  the  water,  and  made  the  children  of 

21  Israel  drink  of  it.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron,  What  did  this  people  [hath  this 
people  done]  unto  thee,  that  thou  hast  brought  so  great  a  [a  great]  siu  upon  them? 

22  And  Aaron  said.  Let  not  the  anger  of  my  lord  wax  hot:  thou  knowest  the  people, 

23  that  they  are  set  on  mischief  [evil].  For  [And]  they  said  unto  me,  JIake  us  gods, 
which  shall  go  before  us :  for  as  for  this  Moses,  the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of 

24  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  [know]  not  what  is  become  of  him.  And  I  said  unto 
them.  Whosoever  hath  anv  gold,  let  them  break  [pluck]  it  off.  So  they  gave  it 
me :  then  [and]  I  cast  it  into  the  fire,  and  there  came  out  this  calf. 

D.— THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 
Vers.  25-29. 

25  And  when  Moses  saw  that  the  people  were  naked  [unrestrained],  (for  Aaron  had 
made  them  naked  unto  their  shame  [had  left  them  unrestrainedfor  a  hissing]  among 

26  their  enemies  :)  Then  Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of  the  camp,  and  said,  Who  is  on  the 
Lord's  side?  [Whoso  is  for  Jehovah,]  let  him  come  unto  me.   And  all  the  sons  of  Levi 

27  gathered  themselves  together  unto  him.  And  he  said  unto  them.  Thus  saith  Jehovah, 
God  [the  God]  of  Israel,  Put  [Put  ye]  every  man  his  sword  by  his  side,  and  go  in 
and  out  [go  to  and  fro]  from  gate  to  gate  throughout  the  camp,  and  slay  every  man 


CHAP.  XXXII.  1-35. 


28  his  brother,  and  every  man  his  companion,  and  every  man  his  neighbor.  And  the 
children  of  Levi  did  according  to  the  word  of  Moses  :  and  there  fell  of  the  people 

29  that  day  about  three  thousand  men.  For  Moses  had  [And  Moses]  said,  Consecrate 
yourselves  today  to  Jehovah,  even  every  man  upon  [against]  his  son,  and  upon 
[against]  his  brother;  that  he  may  bestow  upon  you  [so  as  to  bring  upon  yourselves] 
a  blessing  this  day. 

E.— MOSES'  LNTEKCESSION,  AND  JEHOVAH'S  CONDITIONAL  PARDON  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 
Vers.  30-35. 

30  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  Moses  said  unto  the  people.  Ye  have 
sinned  a  great  sin;  and  now  I  will  go  up  unto  Jehovah;  perad venture  I  shall  make 

31  an  [make]  atonement  for  your  sin.     And  Moses  returned  unto  Jehovah,  and  said, 

32  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made  them  gods  of  gold.  Yet 
now,  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin  ; — and  if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book 

33  which  thou  hast  written.     And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Whosoever  hath  sinned 

34  against  me,  him  will  I  blot  out  of  my  book.  Therefore  now  go,  lead  the  people 
unto  the  place  of  which  I  have  spoken  unto  thee  :  behold,  mine  angel  shall  go  before 

35  thee :  nevertheless  in  the  day  when  I  visit  I  will  visit  their  sin  upon  them.  And 
Jehovah  plagued  [smote]  the  people,  because  they  made  the  calf,  which  Aaron 
made. 

conception  of  the  reason  why,  in  xxxiii.  7,  Moses 
is  said  to  liave  removed  tlie  teut  (by  which  un- 
doubtedly is  meant  the  chief  or  central  tent 
which  as  a  matter  of  course  any  army  must 
have  had  before  the  building  of  a  tabernacle)  far 
away  outside  of  the  camp,  and  erected  it  at  a 
distance  from  the  camp;  although  the  reason  is 
unfolded  throughout  chaps,  xxxiii.  and  xxxiv. 
in  the  thought  of  a  conditional  separation  be- 
tween Jehovah  and  the  camp  of  the  sinful  people, 
or  of  an  intensified  unapproachableness  of  Jeho- 
vah, expressed  in  a  stricter  form  of  the  hierarchy. 
As  the  people  at  first  (xx.  18, 19)  gave  provocation 
for'the  hierarchical  mediatorship  which  Mosea 
still  provisionally  administers,  so  now  by  their 
guilt  they  have  made  it  stricter.  Here  belongs  the 
circumstance  that  they  could  not  endure  the  splen- 
dor on  Moses'  face.  That  the  real  tabernacle  is 
not  here  treated  of,  is  evident  from  the  fact  (hat 
Moses  at  once  applied  to  this  tent  the  name  "  tent 
(or  tabernacle)  of  the  testimony  "  in  the  sense 
that  Jehovah  was  to  be  accessible  to  the  people 
only  at  a  distance  from  the  camp.*  According 
to  the  familiar  style  of  criticism  the  idea  of  a 
sanctuary  arises  only  in  connection  with  the 
actual  building,  whereas,  on  the  contrary,  in 
fact  the  idea  of  the  sanctuiiry  long  preceded  the 
erection  of  the  symbolic  building,  and  might 
well  have  been  all  along  provisionally  repre- 
sented. See  further  conclusions  in  Knobel, 
p.  310  sqq.  It  is  to  be  considered,  in  reference 
to  this  theory  of  a  combination  of  different  docu- 
ments, that  each  part  by  itself  would  yield  only 
a  caricature,  though  one  may  admit  the  thought 
of  editorial  changes  to  accord  with  further  de- 
velopments of  the  same  institution.  On  (he  tables 
of  the  law  vid,  archaeological  observations  in 
Knobel,  p.  314. 
Ver.  1.   ■When  the  people  saw.— Moses' 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
One  of  the  grandest  contrasts  contained  in 
the  Scriptures  is  presented  in  the  fact  that 
Moses  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  was  having 
his  vision  of  the  tabernacle,  i.  e.,  was  receiving 
the  revelation  of  the  true  system  of  worship, 
and,  as  the  central  feature  of  it,  the  tables  of 
the  law,  whilst  the  people  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  in  their  impatience  resorted  to  the 
worship  of  the  golden  calf,  and  in  this  lapse  even 
secured  the  services  of  the  man  just  called  to  be 
high-priest.  The  Bible,  it  is  true,  is  rich  in 
kindred  contrasts,  e.  g.,  the  transfiguration  of 
Christ  on  the  mount  contrasted  with  the  scene 
of  the  impotence  of  the  disciples  in  relation  to 
the  demoniac  in  the  valley;  or  the  institution  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  contrasted  with  Judas's  trea- 
son. But  this  Old  Testament  contrast  is  distin- 
guished above  others  by  its  scenic  and  artistic 
grandeur.  For  all  periods  of  the  history  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  of  the  church  the  fact  is 
here  set  forth,  that  every  individual  period  of 
time  has  a  double  history — the  one  above  on  the 
mount,  the  other  beneath  in  the  valley:  whenever 
the  popular  rabble,  with  the  connivance  of  high- 
priesls,  are  dancing  around  the  golden  calf,  there 
is  taking  place  above  upon  the  mountain  of  light, 
of  terror,  and  of  salvation  something  new  and 
mysterious,  which  also  in  due  time  manifests 
itself  in  judgment  and  deliverance. 

a.  The.  Golden  Calf.  Vers.  1-6. 
Knobel  calls  the  account  of  the  tables  of  the 
law  and  of  the  golden  calf  a  Jehovistic  interpola- 
tion, p.  310.  The  manner  in  which  he  unfolds 
his  thought  strikingly  illustrates  the  dulness  in 
apprehending  the  spirit  of  the  text  wliich  charac- 
terizes the  theory  that  the  text  is  a  patchwork 
of  two  heterogeneous  elements.  According  to 
him,  xxxiii.  7-11  presents  an  account  of  the  ta- 
bernacle, whereas  the  Elohist  does  not  narrate 
the  erection  of  it  till  as  late  as  chap.  xxxv.  This 
style  of  criticism  seems  not  to  have  the  faintest 


*  [Tins  is  obscure.  If  the  reference  is  (as  apparently  it  is) 
to  the  tent  spoken  of  in  xxxiii.  7  sqq.,  tlien  it  is  incorrect  to 
say  that  Moses  called  it  "the  tent  of  the  testimony."  And 
even  if  he  had  so  called  it,  it  is  not  clear  how  that  name 
would  indicate  that  Jehovah  was  to  be  found  only  outside 
the  camp. — Te.] 


1-32 


long  absence  made  the  people  feel  like  a  swarm 
of  bees  that  have  lost  their  queen.  We  must 
consider  that  they  were  waiting,  idle,  and  in 
suspense,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ;  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  see  in  Moses  a  representa- 
tive of  the  Deity  that  was  now  wanting;  that  all 
tlie  way  from  Egypt  they  had  in  their  memory 
visible  signs  from  God,  and  were  conscious  that 
tUey  were  required  to  go  onward  from  Sinai. 
Jloreover,  they  had  seen  how  Moses  went  into 
the  darkness  and  fiery  flames  of  the  mountain. 
BO  that  it  was  natural  to  imagine  that  he  had 
perished.  Furthermore,  Aaron,  on  account  of 
his  personal  weakness,  could  not  satisfy  them  as 
Moses'  representative.  Therefore  impatience, 
fear,  sensuous  religious  conceptions,  vexation  at 
Moses'  audacious  marching  into  the  terrors  of 
Jehovah  and  into  invisible  regions, — these  things, 
and  in  addition  Aaron's  weakness  as  a  substitute 
for  Moses,  worked  together  to  transform  the  tri.al 
of  faith  which  was  laid  on  the  people  into  a  great 
temptation,  to  which  they  succumbed.  Their 
vexation  is  directed  against  Aaron,  the  second 
leader,  whom  they  now  wish  violently  to  make 
their  chief,  but  on  condition  that  he  yields  to 
them  and  supplements  himself  by  means  of  an 
idol.  That  they  are  not  asking  for  foreign  gods 
(plural),  is  shown  by  the  connection.  For  the 
theocracy,  therefore,  they  wish  to  substitute  a 
hierarchical  democracy  and  a  superstitious  wor- 
ship. This  is  not  strictly  an  apostasy  from 
Jehovah;  they  only  want  an  image  of  Him  to 
symbolize  His  leadership.  The  image  of  the 
golden  calf,  the  young  bull  {\ii<),  borrowed  from 
the  Egyptian  Apis,  but  designed  symbolically  to 
represent  Jehovah,  is  not  expressly  named  in 
their  request,  but  was  doubtless  from  the  first  in 
their  minds.  This  image  is  to  go  before  them, 
an  ill-chosen  symbol  for  them,  since  the  ox,  which 
afterwards  again  appears  in  the  vision  of  the 
cherubim,  acquires  a  significance  in  the  theocratic 
system  only  as  supplemented  by  the  lion  or  the 
eagle;  by  itself  alone  it  represented  the  Egyptian 
conception  of  death  (or  the  generative  power  gf 
nature).  Nevertheless  the  Israelites  are  not  con- 
scious that  their  demand  implies  an  apostasy, 
just  as  Jeroboam  also  thought  that  he  could  pre- 
serve the  Israelitish  faith  in  the  form  of  the  calf- 
worship.  They  intend  to  associate  Jehovah  with 
the  image,  and  to  go  on  under  His  guidance. 
But  how  hopeless  they  are  respecting  Jloses' 
leadership,  as  if  he  had  brought  them  out  of 
Egypt  to  leave  them  in  the  wilderness  (a  mood 
of  mind  which  Protestants  often  cherish  and 
express  in  reference  to  the  Reformers),  is  to  be 
seen  in  their  utterance  concerning  Moses;  and 
how  far  advanced  they  are  on  the  downward 
road  to  apostasy,  is  shown  at  once  by  the  jovial 
festival  which  is  connected  with  the  now  worship, 
in  imitation  of  heathen  rites. 

Ver.  2.  And  Aaron  said  unto  them. — With 
a  mistaken  cunning,  such  as  is  apt  to  grow  up 
with  a  hierarchy,  he  hopes  to  deter  them  from 
their  desire  by  hru-'kly  demanding  a  great 
sacrifice;  but  he  deceived  himself.  Religions 
that  are  the  outgrowth  of  sensiwua  and  selfish 
passions  generally  produce  a  fanatical  readiness 
to  make  sacrifices. 
Ver.  3.  And  fashioned  [Lange:  sketched] 


it.  It  seems  to  us  more  natural  to  refer  IfiN  [it] 
forwards  to  the  golden  calf  than  backwards  to 
the  ear-rings,  instead  of  which  "gold"  must  be 
understood  as  the  object.  Moreover  it  would 
be  an  inversion  of  the  natural  order  te  speak  first 
of  the  polishing  of  the  cast,  with  a  cliisel,  and 
then  of  the  casting  itself  We  therefore  trans- 
late with  Luther,  "he  sketched  it  with  a  pen 
(style)" — a  more  probable  meaning  of  Q'ln 
than  "  chisel."*  On  Aaron's  excuse,  see  ver.  24. 
That  the  golden  calf  consisted  of  a  wooden  figure 
overlaid  with  gold  plate,  is  urged  by  Keil 
[especially  from  Isa.  xl.  19  and  xxx.  22,  where 
such  images  are  described  and  in  the  latter  pas- 
sage are  called  even  "molten  images,"  and]  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  manner  of  its  destruc- 
tion implies  the  existence  of  wooden  [combustible] 
elements.  And  they  said.— The  god  is  pro- 
claimed. Aaron  thinks  he  can  relieve  the  matter 
by  building  an  altar  and  proclaiming  a  feast  to 
Jehovah  for  the  morrow. 

Ver.  6.  Andoeeredburnt-oHerings.-There 
is  nothing  about  siu-oft'erings  in  connection  witii 
this  new  worship.  The  chief  feature  consists  in 
the  pea'ce-offerings  and  the  sacrificial  meal,  fol- 
lowed by  the  merry  festive  games. 

b.  God's  Judgment  and  Hoses'  Intercession.  Vers. 
7-14. 

Ver.  7.  And  Jehovah  said.— It  is  not  known 
below  what  is  taking  place  upon  the  mountain  ; 
but  on  the  mountain  it  is  well  known  what  is 
going  on  below.— Go,  get  thee  down.  Lively 
expression  of  indignation,  aS'ectiug  even  Moses. 
Under  such  a  condition  of  God's  people,  His  work 
on  the  mountain  is  interrupted.  "  Thy"  people, 
it  is  significantly  said,  though  Keil  questions 
this  [explaining  the  phrase  as  merely  meaning 
that  Moses,  as  mediator  of  the  people,  must  re- 
present them.]  The  covenant  is  broken.  Thus 
the  people  practically  deny  that  Jehovah  has 
brought  them  up  out  of  Egypt. 

Ver.  8.  Turned  aside  quickly.— As  if  they 
bad  been  in  a  hurry  about  it.  Hence  the  guilt 
was  all  the  greater,  comp.  G.al.  i. — And  have 
worshipped  it.  So  Jehovah  judges  concerning 
the  image-worship  of  thepeople;  that  they  intend 
to  worship  Him  in  their  service,  He  does  not 
acknowledge.  Hence  we  translate  here  too, 
'■These  are  thy  gods;"  in  the  pretended  image 
of  God  He  sees  the  germ  of  idolatry,  a  deviation 
from  the  way  of  revelation  which  He  had  com- 
manded. 

Ver.  9.  A  stiff  necked  people.-  Vid.  xxxiii. 
3,-5;  xxxiv.  9;  Dent.  ix.  6.  Literally,  "hard  of 
neck."  The  expression  seems  to  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  the  trait  of  an  unruly  draught-animal. 
The  self-will  of  the  people  has  shown  itself  to  be 
an  obstinate  repugnance  to  Jehovah's  guidance, 
hard  to  overcome. 

Ver.  10.  Let  me  alone.— That  which  delays  the 
destruction  of  the  people  is  even  now  Moses'  me- 
diatorial connection  with  his  people,  as  expressed 
in  his  mood  of  mind  even  before  he  made  any 
utterance.     Yet  the  promise  given  to  Abraham 


■  [Sep  under  "  Te.\tual  and  Grammatical."  Langn  b  loter- 
■tiitiiin  is  i)Uu'iiblo;  but  1X"'l  can  hardly  be  mads  to  mean 
ketcliPd"— all  the  less,  inasmuch  as  tlic  supposed  object, 
1  calf,  has  not  yet  been  hinted  at.— IB.] 


CHAP.  XXXII.  1-35. 


cannot  fail — a  fact  continually  re-appearing  in 
the  prophetic  writings,  and,  in  all  its  grandeur, 
in  Ihe  New  Testament  {vid.  Rom.  iv.  11 ).  The  rem- 
nant of  Israelitish  fidelity  is  now  concentrated 
in  Moses  ;  hence  God  says,  "  I  will  make  of  thee 
a  great  nation."  The  judgment  is  a  Kpiai;,  dis- 
tinction and  separation.  It  was  natural  to  think 
that  Moses  might  separate  himself  from  his 
people,  and  that  then  the  people  would  fall  a 
prey  to  destruction  in  the  wilderness.  The  mo- 
tives contend  with  one  another  in  Moses'  soul, 
as  if  between  God  and  Moses.  The  phrase  "let 
me  alone,"  according  to  Gregory  the  Great  and 
Keil,  was  designed  only  to  give  to  Moses  an 
opportunity  to  utter  deprecations.  But  this 
neat  remark  of  theirs  obliterates  the  sentiment 
of  righteousness  expressed  in  the  phrase. 

Vers.  11,  12.  And  Moses  besought  Jeho- 
vah— Here  appears  the  original,  real  priest. 
He  contends  in  a  most  fervent  prayer  with  the 
face  of  Jehovah,  with  His  revealed  form  now 
present  to  him;  not,  however,  chie8y  for  him- 
self, but  for  his  people,  even  with  a  renunciation 
of  self  and  of  the  grand  prospect  opened  to  him. 
He  appeals  to  .Jehovah's  self-consistency,  and, 
in  contrast  with  Jehovah's  expression  '-My  peo- 
ple, Moses,"  he  says,  "  tfi;/  people,  Jehovah, 
which  thou  bast  brought  out  of  Egypt."  His 
appeal  to  Jehovah's  honor,  as  not  enduring  that 
the  Egyptians  should  scoff  at  His  word  and  revile 
Him.  expresses  the  genuinely  religious  sentiment, 
which  pervades  the  whole  Bible,  that  the  ruin  of 
God's  people,  merited  as  it  is  on  account  of  their 
sins,  would  also  plunge  the  heathen  nations  into 
complete  destruction.  According  to  Keil  the 
expression,  "  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation." 
was  only  a  great  temptation.  Vid  Num.  xiv.  12; 
Deui.  ix.  14. — Turn  from  thy  fierce  wrath, 
and  repent  of  this  evil.  This  strong  anthro- 
popatliic  expression  conveys  the  correct  senti- 
ment, that  Jehovah  may  assume  another  attitude 
towards  the  people,  when  He  sees  that  Moses' 
compassion  for,  and  adherence  to,  his  people 
opens  to  them  a  different  and  better  prospect. 

Ver.  1-3.  Remember  Abraham. — This  call- 
ing to  Jehovah's  mind  the  great  promises  which 
He  had  made  to  the  patriarchs  is  seen  in  its  full 
importance,  when  we  consider  that  Moses  not 
only  has  declined  the  splendid  offer  of  becoming 
the  patriarch  of  God's  people,  but  also  in  his 
hnmility  is  not  conscious  of  the  fact  that  his  own 
intercession  for  the  people  has  any  weight. 

Ver.  14.  And  Jehovah  repented  of  the 
evil. — In  the  sphere  of  personal  life,  of  the  theo- 
cratic world,  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  believer  j 
may  talk, — may  even  reason,  with  his  God.  It 
is  not  here  man's  part  to  be  absolutely  silent 
before  the  silent  infliction,  and  give  way  to  ran- 
cor and  despair,  but  as  a  personal  being  to  talk 
with  the  personal  God,  as  a  child  with  his  mo-  j 
Iher.  Of  course  headstrong  selfishness  is  in  ; 
this  case  entirely  forbidden ;  but  to  make  in-  j 
quiry  of  Jehovah  is  not  only  allowable,  but  is  in  [ 
accordance  with  the  spiritual  nature;  and  it  is 
only  by  way  of  inquiry,  wrestling  inquiry,  that 
man  obtains  the  answer  which  brings  at  once 
tranquillity  and  knowledge,  and  whose  consum- 
mate result  is  that  lofty  absence  of  will  which 
consists  in  surrender  to, and  union  with,  the  will 
of  God.     Thus  then  Moses  asks,  "Wherefore?" 


as  afterwards  so  many  saints,  and  as  at  last 
Christ  did  in  Gethsemane  and  on  the  cross. 
With  man's  attitude  towards  God,  however, 
God's  attitude  towards  man  is  changed;  and  He 
repents  of  the  threatened  evil,  because  He  is  the 
unchangeable  one,  not  in  fatalistic  caprice,  but 
in  truth  and  grace.  On  ver.  14  Keil  remarks, 
by  way  of  correction,  "This  is  a  remark  which 
anticipates  the  history.  God  dismissed  Moses 
without  any  such  assurance,  in  order  that  He 
might  disclose  to  the  people  the  full  severity  of 
the  divine  wrath."  'This  explanation  destroys 
the  fine  contrast  between  the  two  facts  that,  on 
the  one  hand,  Moses  in  the  mountain  presents 
notliing  but  intercessions  to  God,  and  also  re- 
ceives the  assurance  that  the  people  are  par- 
doned ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  he  denounces  a  stern  judgment  on 
the  sin  of  the  people  with  an  anger  which  is 
heightened  especially  by  the  sight  of  the  apos- 
tasy. The  full  severity  of  the  divine  anger 
would  have  been  the  destruction  of  the  people. 
Moses'  intercession  in  ver.  32  does  not  refer  to 
the  existence  of  the  people,  but  their  covenant 
relations.  Peter,  too,  needed  a  twofold  assurance 
of  pardon,  vid.  John  xx.  21. 

c.  The  Trial  and  Punishment  of  Aaron.  Vers.  15-24. 

Vers.  15,  IG.  And  Moses  turned.  Special 
mention  is  made  of  the  fact  that  he  was  carrying 
in  his  hand  an  invaluable  treasure,  the  two  tables 
of  the  testimony.  The  tables  themselves  had 
been  prepared  by  God,  the  writing  also  by  God; 
and  the  tables  were  written  all  over.  It  was 
therefore  all  the  more  frightful,  that  the  people 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  had  so  entirely  de- 
stroyed the  value  of  the  heavenly  treasure,  had 
so  decidedly  annulled  the  covenant  writing  by 
their  breach  of  the  covenant,  that  Moses  felt 
moved  to  dash  the  tables  to  pieces. 

Vers.  17,  18.  When  Joshua  heard — It  is  a 
very  characteristic  feature,  that  the  young  hero 
(vid.  chap,  xvii.)  imagines  that  in  the  noise  he 
hears  the  tumult  of  war.  Keil,  referring  to  xxiv. 
13,  conceives  that  Moses,  as  he  was  "going  away 
from  God,"  met  Joshua  on  the  mountain.  The 
text  clearly  represents  Joshua  as  having  gone 
upon  the  mountain  in  company  with  VIoses.  As 
a  servantie  belongs  to  his  master,  and  in  so  far 
he  has  the  precedence  over  Aaron.  But  Moses 
correctly  detects  the  antiphonies  of  the  new  wor- 
ship amidst  the  tumult.  That  which  was  common 
to  the  two  in  their  apprehension  seems  to  have 
been  the  perception  of  two  kinds  of  sound. — We 
are  to  distinguish  between  the  Kal  and  the  Piel 
of  the  verb  nj;>.  Keil  renders:  "It  is  not  the 
sound  of  the  answer  of  power,  and  not  the  sound 
of  the  answer  of  weakness,  i.  c,  they  are  not 
sounds  such  as  the  strong  (the  victorious)  and 
the  weak  (the  conquered)  utter."  The  antipho- 
nal  songs  were  sung  for  the  round  dance. — 
Knobel  thinks  there  is  a  contradiction  between 
this  and  ver.  7  [where  it  is  said  that  Moses  was 
informed  of  what  was  going  on  below.  But  it  is 
not  said  that  Joshua  had  been  informed,  and 
there  is  no  evidence  that  Moses  had  mistaken 
the  sound.— Tr.] 

Ver.  19.  Moses'  anger  waxed  hot. — And 
yet  he  is  the  same  one  who  by  his  intercession 


has  saved  Israel.  His  anger  and  his  compas- 
sion have  a  common  source.  But  he  is  excited 
by  the  actual  sight.  Of  this  power  of  physical 
perception  the  Scriptures  mention  many  in- 
stances, e.g.,  "  when  Jacob  saw  the  wagons,"  e/c. 
(Gen.  xlv.  27).  The  breaking  of  the  tables  is 
nowhere  rebuked;  therefore  his  emotion  was 
justifiable.  The  tables  as  representing  the  enact- 
ment of  the  covenant  had  been  annulled  by  the 
people;  the  breaking  of  them  symbolizes  the 
breach  of  the  covenant.  Moreover  this  act  of 
breaking  the  tables  shows  that  Moses  did  not 
regard  the  law  as  a  law  of  curses,  but  as  a  great 
gift  from  Jehovah  of  which  the  people  had  made 
themselves  unworthy;  otherwise  he  would  just 
at  this  time  have  been  inclined  to  hold  the  tables 
aloft.  But  could  he  not  have  concealed  them? 
This  question  suggests  anoiherpoint.  The  tables 
of  the  law,  in  case  the  people  repented,  might 
have  become  to  them  an  object  of  superstitious 
adoration.  Hence  afterwards  the  new  tables  lay 
covered  in  the  ark  in  the  obscurity  of  the  Holy 
of  holies.  So  also  at  a  later  time  Hezekiah  had 
to  destroy  the  brazen  serpent  in  order  to  keep  it 
from  superstitious  regard.  The  temple  had  to 
be  twice  consumed  with  fire.  God's  people  often 
had  to  be  driven  by  the  terrors  of  God  from  the 
outward  to  the  inward  ;  for  it  is  only  as  one  looks 


at  he 


oksuc 


Ver.  20.  And  he  took  the  calf.— First  of 
all  the  object  of  their  adoration,  the  idol,  had  to 
be  destroyed.  A  calf  of  solid  gold  could  not  be 
burned,  but  it  might  have  been  put  into  the  fire. 
The  wooden  image  was  thus  burned.  The  golden 
plate  was  melted,  and  this  was  then  in  particular 
beaten  to  pieces.  The  whole  powdered  mass 
was  thrown  upon  the  water,  the  gold  sinking  and 
serving  then  only  a  symbolic  purpose,  whilst  the 
ashes  of  the  wood  might  have  been  served  up  to 
the  people  as  a  drink  of  penance  or  of  cursing- 
all  which  is  doubtless  to  be  conceived  as  a  sym- 
bolic act  enforced  chiefly  on  the  most  guilty, 
especially  as  the  brook  into  which  the  dust  had 
been  thrown  was  a  flowing  one  (Deut.  ix.  21). 
Knobel  says,  "  He  shames  them  by  making  clear 
to  them  the  nothingness  of  their  god,  and  humbles 
them  by  such  a  treatment  of  it:  they  are  obliged 
even  to  devour  their  own  god — a  severe  punish- 
ment for  the  idolaters.  The  Egyptians  had  a  very 
lively  horror  of  consuming  the  animals  revered 
as  deities,  and  would  sooner  have  eaten  human 
flesh  (Uiod.  I.,  84)."  This  is  intelligible.  But 
what  Keil  says  is  unintelligible  :  "  This  making 
the  people  drink  was  certainly  (!)  not  for  the 
purpose  of  shaming  them  by  making  manifest  to 

them  the  nothingness  of  their  god but 

was  designed  symbolically  to  incorporate  (?)  for 
them  sin  with  its  consequences,  to  pour  it,  as  it 
were,  with  the  water,  into  their  inwards,  as  a 
symbolic  sign  that  they  would  have  to  bear  it 
and  suffer  for  it,  just  as  the  woman  suspected  of 
adultery  was  obliged  to  drink  the  water  of  cursing 
(Num.  V.  24)."  The  cases  here  made  parallel  are 
entirely  different.  In  the  precept  in  Num.  v.  no 
guilt  is  to  be  "incorporated"  by  the  water  of 
cursing,  hut  it  is  to  be  determined  whether  there 
is  any  guilt.  But  in  the  present  case  there  was 
no  occasion  for  any  process  of  detecting  guilt; 
the  Jews  themselves  certainly  had  an  immediate 
Consciousness  of  it  in  consequence  of  Moses'  de- 


nunciation, whereas  they  would  hardly  have 
understood  Moses'  obscure  symbol.  If  we  con- 
sider the  analogy  of  the  red  heifer,  whose 
ashes  were  sprinkled  as  a  hherem,  it  would  be 
more  natural  to  assume  that  the  people  by  drink- 
ing the  ashes  of  this  hherem  were  themselves 
marked  as  involved  in  the  hherem,  and  so  were 
prepared  for  a  sentence  which  was  soon  after- 
wards executed.  Anxiety  to  maintain  the  letter 
of  the  narrative  has  led  some  to  speak  of  a  che- 
mical calcination  of  the  gold,  as  being  necessary 
in  order  to  its  being  ground  fine  (RosenmuUer 
and  others).  Knobel  imputes  this  meaning  to 
the  writer  in  order  to  convict  him  of  error,  while 
Keil  seems  inclined  to  suppose  that  the  gold  for 
the  most  part  disappeared  in  the  melting  process. 
Ver.  21  sqq.  And  Moses  said  unto  Aaron. 
The  question  is  sharp. — It  makes  Aaron  morally 
the  chief  author  of  the  sin,  even  though  in  re- 
ference to  the  motive  it  admits  some  excuse. 
The  word  rrJi'  (-'hath  done")  maybe  under- 
stood in  two  ways.  Keil  explains  it  to  mean, 
"What  have  they  done  unto  thee?  '  so  that  the 
question  implies  that  the  people  have  compelled 
Aaron  by  some  act  of  great  violence.  But  it  is 
more  obvious  to  find  in  the  question  the  sharper 
rebuke:  "Has  this  people  committed  an  offence 
against  thee,  that  thou  couldst  let  them  fall  into 
such  a  sin?"  Aaron's  excuse  is  an  expression 
of  his  weakness  of  character.  The  best  thing 
about  him  is,  that  he  submits  entirely  to  Moses' 
authority;  the  worst,  that  he  throws  the  blame 
entirely  on  the  people,  and  that  he  represents 
the  golden  calf  as  an  almost  accidental  image 
produced  by  the  fire,  while  he  pretends  that  he 
himself  threw  the  gold  into  the  fire  with  a  feeling 
of  contempt,  and  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
it.  Deut.  ix.  20  supplements  the  narrative,  'that 
Moses  makes  no  reply,  must  mean  something 
more  than  "that  he  deems  him  not  worthy  of  an 
answer"  (Keil);  his  answer  is  involved  in  the 
ensuing  judgment,  in  which  it  must  be  made 
manifest  that  there  is  a  diff'erence  between 
Aaron's  sin  of  weakness  and  the  wickedness  of 
the  apostates. 

d.  The  Punishment  of  the  People.  Vers.  2.5-29. 
The  ground  for  the  severe  procedure  now  fol- 
lowing is  given  in  ver.  25.  A  real  distinction  is 
made  between  the  principal  sin,  that  of  the  apos- 
tate people,  and  the  sin  of  Aaron  (or  the  Levites). 
The  cure  of  the  evil  is  quite  analogous  to  the 
cure  effected  for  the  people  by  the  campaign 
against  the  Midianites  (Num.  xxxi.)  In  this 
case  the  Midianites  were  the  tempters,  the  Jews 
the  tempted.  But  they  were  to  be  healed  of  their 
moral  torpor  by  being  required  to  inflict  punitive 
judgment  on  the  Midianites.  So  here  it  is  the 
Levites,  involved  in  the  guilty  weakness,  whose 
approach  in  response  to  his  call  Moses  seems 
from  the  first  to  have  expected.  Knobel  can 
understand  the  procedure  only  by  assuming  con- 
tradictions: "The  narrative,"  he  says,  "  is  en- 
tirely improbable  ;  such  a  bloody  command  one 
cannot  believe  Moses  to  have  made."  Of  course 
he  has  no  conception  of  the  significance  of  an 
army  of  God,  nor  of  the  fact  tliat  the  decimations 
which  still  take  place  in  the  modern  military 
history  of  Christemlom  are  not  yet  recorded  in 
arohajological  statistics,  although  tli^'y  date  from 


CHAP.  XXXII.  1-35. 


antiquity. — For  a  hissing  among  their  ene- 
mies. Keil  unJerstauds  tliis  of  tue  puuishment 
of  tUe  people;  but  by  ttiis  very  punishment  the 
hissing  of  the  adversaries  was  suppressed. 

Ver.  26.  Then  Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of 
the  camp. — The  camp  is  unclean  and  lies  under 
sentence  (Heb.  xiii.  13),  from  without  the  camp 
new  purity  must  be  procured.  With  this  circum- 
stance is  connected  the  subsequent  removal  of 
the  provisional  tabernacle  from  the  camp,  as 
well  as  .Jehovah's  refusal  to  go  with  the  people  in 
the  midst  of  the  camp.  Knobel  says,  "He  takes 
Ids  stand  at  the  head-quarters  of  the  camp"  (!). 
Moses'  heroic  decision,  expressed  in  the  most 
energetic  language,  has  the  effect  of  bringing  all 
the  Levites  to  his  side.  But  since  the  other  tribes, 
although  terrified,  did  not  come  to  him,  a  divi- 
sion, a  contest,  and  condemnation  became  neces- 
sary. Why  the  Levites?  Keil  quotes,  in  answer 
to  this,  Cornelius  a  Lapide  :  ["  Because  the  most 
of  the  Levites  did  not  join  in  the  sin  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  worship  of  the  calf,  and  because  this 
displeased  them."]  Why  not  the  other  tribes? 
Keil  quotes  Calvin's  answer:  ["They  were  not 
held  back  by  contempt  or  obstinacy,  but  only  by 
shame,  and  all  of  them  were  so  smitten  with  ter- 
ror that  they  waited  in  astonishment  to  see  what 
Moses'  intention  was,  and  how  far  he  would  pro- 
ceed."]* In  this  matter  one  must  guard  against 
such  a  view  of  historic  causes  as  deals  with 
merely  outward  motives.  A  peculiar  religious 
energy  was  inherited  by  the  tribe  of  Levi  from 
their  ancestor  (Gen.  xxxiv.) ;  and  though  it  was 
liable  to  lead  astray,  yet  here  it  followed  a  higher 
summons,  as  it  also  atoned  for  the  wrong  done 
at  the  water  of  strife,  Deul.  xxxiii.  8  sqq. 

Vers.  27,28.  Putyeevery  manhisswordby 
his  side. — The  frightful  command  clearly  does 
not  contemplate  a  slaughter  as  great  as  possible. 
They  are  to  pass  twice  through  the  length  of  the 
camp,  going  and  returning.  In  this  course  every 
one  is  to  kill  his  brother,  friend,  neighbor.  Does 
that  mean,  simply,  without  any  regard  to  exist- 
ing relations  of  friendship?  Chiefly  this,  no 
doubt.  But  when  we  consider  that  the  Levite 
had  no  longer  any  literal  brother  in  the  camp, 
the  Levites  having  all  joined  Moses,  it  follows 
that  referepce  is  made  to  figurative  brotherhood 
and  friendship,  such  as  had  just  acted  as  a  snare 
to  the  Levite.  That  only  three  thousand  men 
fell  indicates  that  a  selection  was  made  according 
to  special  considerations.  And  in  this  way  also 
the  fact  is  explained,  that  the  terified  people 
could  let  this  punitive  infliction  take  place.  Va- 
rious solutions  of  the  diSiculty  involved  in  this 
event  are  given  by  Keil. 

Ver.  29.  Consecrate  yourselves  [Lit.  PiU 
your  hands]. — According  to  the  context  it  is 
necessary  to  suppose  that  Moses  uttered  these 
words  before  the  execution  of  the  offenders,  and 
in  order  to  explain  that  it  was  like  an  ofl'ering  for 
Jehovah,  an  offering  of  the  hardest  kind  of  self- 
denial   and   self-renunciation;    furthermore   we 


*[It8 


promptly  to  a  r-.  ,,L:i]iti..i 
of  peiiiteuct;  iimi  ^..liv^ 
Moses,  wlio  belouged  to  t 


must  suppose  that  he  did  not  mean  this  in  the 
literal  sense,  but  comparatively,  in  order  in  the 
strongest  manner  to  express  the  truth  that  their 
obedience  and  self-denial  were  pleasing  to  God. 
The  slain  were  indeed  made  a  hherem,  or  curse- 
offering,  because  after  their  great  wickedness 
they  had  defiantly  remained  in  the  camp;  but 
the  hherem  was  nevertheless  not  properly  an 
offering  for  Jehovah.  The  addition,  so  that  a 
blessing  may  be  given  to  you,  also  presents 
the  execution  in  the  light  of  the  removal  of  a 
curse.  On  the  untenable  expltination,  that  they 
were  obliged,  after  the  slaughter,  to  make  atone- 
ment by  means  of  an  offering  (Jonathan,  Kurtz), 
see  Keil  [who  says,  "To  fill  the  hands  for  Jeho- 
vah does  not  mean  to  bring  Him  an  offering,  but 
to  provide  one's  self  with  something  to  bring  to 

God Moreover  it  is  incomprehensible  how 

the  execution  of  a  divine  command,  or  an  act 
of  obedience  towards  the  expressed  will  of  God, 
can  be  imputed  to  one  as  blood-guiltiness  or  as 
an  offence  needing  expiation."] 


e.   Moses''  Intercession  and  Jehovah's   Conditional 
Pardon  of  the  People.     Vers.  30-35. 

Ver.  30.  Ag  in  the  history  of  the  fallen  Peter 
we  must  distinguish  between  the  pardon  which 
he  received  as  a  Christian  (John  xx.)  and  that 
which  he  received  as  an  apostle  (John  xxi.),  so 
in  reference  to  Israel  we  must  distinguish  be- 
tween the  first  abrogation  of  the  sentence  of  de- 
struction and  the  renewal  of  the  people's  call- 
ing. The  first  pardon  is  expressed  in  ver.  14; 
the  other  is  first  introduced  by  the  judgment 
upon  the  people,  and  in  this  section  it  is  condi- 
tionally  secured  through  Moses'  powerful  inter- 
cession and  mediation.  Keil  makes  so  little 
distinction  between  the  two  things  that  he  even 
says  that  Moses  after  his  first  petition  (vers.  11- 
13)  received  no  assurance  of  favor — which  is 
inconsistent  with  ver.  14.  But  we  have  here 
nothing  to  do,  as  Keil  represents,  with  "  an  anger 
that  threatens  destruction."  Israel  might  now 
indeed  continue  to  exist  as  a  people,  but  yet  have 
forfeited  their  vocation.  This  is  just  the  point 
here  treated  of.  Hence  Moses  does  not  say  to 
the  people.  The  offence  is  expiated;  but  he 
also  does  not  speak  of  a  crime  which  is  still  to 
be  expiated  with  a  hherem.  He  speaks  of  a  great 
sin  which,  however,  may  perhaps  be  covered 
by  means  of  an  expiation.  In  what  this  expia- 
tion is  to  consist,  he  does  not  tell  the  people — for 
therein,  too,  his  nobleness  appears — but  he  says 
to  Jehovah  that  he  will  surrender  himself  to  the 
judgment  of  God  in  behalf  of  the  people.  Since 
now  the  question  is  here  not  one  of  existence, 
but  one  of  vocation,  Moses'  offer  to  sacrifice 
himself  is  also  modified  accordingly.  It  is 
true,  this  intercession  is  vastly  more  intense  than 
the  former  one  (ver.  11).  He  would  rather  be 
blotted,  with  the  people,  out  of  the  book  of  life, 
of  theocratic  citizenship,  than  without  the  people 
to  stand  in  the  book  alone.  As  mediating  priest 
he  has  come  as  far  as  to  the  thouglit  of  going  to 
destruction  with  the  people,  but  not  for  them. 
Moreover  he  offers  to  submit  to  the  sentence  only 
hypothetically — in  case  Jehovah  will  not  pardon 
tbe  people.  But  he  is  primarily  seeking  for  the 
pardon  of  only  this  one  great  sin.     Thus  we  see 


136 


expiation  germinant  in  the  form  of  suffering  loss ; 
it  is  not  yet  seen  in  its  bloom  and  fruitage:  else 
the  condition  would  not  be,  "Grace  or  judg- 
ment," but,  "Through  judgment  the  highest 
grace."  Nevertheless  this  is  the  moment  when 
Moses  comes  into  closest  contact  with  the  priest- 
hood of  the  New  Testament.  Abraham's  inter- 
cession for  Sodom  is  one  precursor  of  it ;  strouger 
still  is  Judah's  intercession  for  Benjamin  (vid. 
Comqi.  on  Gen.  xliy.  18  sqq.);  and,  as  a  N.  T. 
analogy,  Paul's  language  in  Rom.  ix.  3  has  been 
adduced  (vid.  Comm.  on  Romans).  In  Paul's 
■words  appears  indeed  the  phrase  ••for  the  Jewish 
people;"  but  it  is  a  question  what  the  exact  mean- 
ing is.  In  intercession  there  are  indeed  degrees 
of  self-denial  and  ecstasy  in  which  human  logic 
seems  almost  to  be  swallowed  up  in  a  sort  of 
divine  folly. — Jehovah  brings  Moses  back  to  the 
legal  stand-point,  and  all  the  more,  as  he  has  not 
yet  attained  the  full  expression  and  full  act  of 
expiation,  and  the  realization  of  it  is  conditioned 
on  an  antecedent  visitation  of  the  people  (ver. 
34).  This  visitation,  however,  can  be  realized 
only  as  the  people  are  conducted  further  on 
their  way.  So  then  there  is  involved  a  condi- 
tional re-adoption  of  the  people  in  the  words, 
"Go,  lead  the  people,"  etc.  It  is  conditioned, 
in  the  first  place,  by  the     bscure   expression, 


"  My  angel  shall  go  before  thee,"  the  stern  mean- 
ing of  which  is  afterwards  explained  ;  secondly, 
by  the  proviso  of  a  future  visitation  which  was 
to  be  at  once  a  gracious  and  a  judicial  visitation. 
Thus  the  people  are  smitten  doubly:  first,  by 
Moses' judicial  punishment  (ver.  27):  secondly, 
by  the  above-mentioned  conditioas  connected 
with  their  re-adoption.  And  this  is  done  be- 
cause, as  ver.  35  declares,  the  people,  strictly 
speaking,  had  made  the  calf  which  they  had  in- 
duced Aaron  to  make.  "  The  book  which  Jeho- 
vah has  written  is  the  book  of  life,  or  of  the 
living,  Ps.  Ixix.  29  (28) ;  Dan.  xii.  1.  This  concep- 
tion is  derived  from  the  custom  of  making  a  list 
of  the  names  of  the  citizens  of  a  kingdom  or  of  a 
city"  (Keil). — From  this  it  appears  that  the  book 
is  primarily  the  roll  of  citizens  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  in  the  theocratic  sense;  and  the  notion 
becomes  more  and  more  profound  as  we  advance 
througli  the  Scriptures,  conip.  Isa.  iv.  3;  Dan. 
xii.  1;  Phil.  iv.  3;  Rev.  iii.  5.  Keil  finds  the 
day  of  visitation  in  the  judicial  infliction  at  Ka- 
desh  (Num.  xiv.  26  sqq.),  according  to  which  that 
generation  was  to  die  in  the  wilderness.  But 
tlie  text  allows  a  distinction  to  be  made  between 
the  day  of  visitation  in  the  more  general  sense 
and  the  special  retributive  visitation.  It  desig- 
nates the  whole  perspective  of  punitive  judg- 
ments as  seen  in  the  light  of  grace. 


SECOND    SECTION. 


Stricter  Separation  between  Jehovah  and  the  People.     Removal  of  Moses'  Tent — 
the  Provisional  Tabernacle— out  of  the  Camp.     The  Gracious  Token. 

Ch.\pter  XXXIII.  1-23. 

A.— APPOINTMENT  OF  AN  ANGEL  TO  BE  ISB.VEL'S  LEADER,  INSTEAD  OF  JEHOVAH'S 
IMMEDIATE  GUIDANCE. 


1  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Mcses,  Depart  and  go  up  [Away,  go  up]  hence,  thou 
and  the  people  which  thou  hast  brought  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  unto  the 
land  which  [of  which]  I  sware  unto  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  saying.  Unto 

2  thy  seed  will  I  give  it:  And  I  will  send  an  angel  before  thee ;  and  I  will  drive  out 
the  Canaanite,  the  Araorite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  the  Hivite,  and  the 

3  Jebusite:  Unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey:  for  I  will  not  go  up  in  the 
midst  of  thee;  for  thou  art  a  stifi'-necked  people:  lest  I  consume  thee  in  the  way. 

4  And  when  the  people  heard  these  evil  tidings,  they  mourned,  and  no  man  did  put 

5  on  him  his  ornaments.  For  Jehovah  had  said  [And  Jehovah  .«aid]  unto  Moses, 
Say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  are  a  stiff-necked  people  :  I  will  come  iip  into 
the  midst  of  thee  in  a  moment,  and  cousume  thee  [were  I  to  go  up  iu  the  midst  of 
thee  one  moment,  I  should  consume  thee]  :  therefore  now  pu    off  thy  ornaments 

6  from  thee,  that  I  may  know  what  to  do  unto  thee.  And  the  children  of  Israel 
stripped  themselves  of  their  ornaments,  by  the  mount  Horeb  [from  Mount  Horeb 
onward]. 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  1-23. 


B.— REMOVAL  OF  5I0SES'  TENT,  AS  A  SORT  OF  TRADITIONAL  TABERNACLE,  BEFORE 
THE  CAMP.     THE  THEOCRATIC  DISCIPLINARY  CHASTISEMENT. 

Vera.  7-11. 

7  And  Moses  took  tlie  tabernacle  [tent],  and  pitched  it  without  the  camp,  afar  off 
from  the  camp,  and  called  it  the  Tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting]. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  that  every  one  \Yhich  [who]  sought  Jehovah  went  out  unto  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  which  ivas  without  the  camp. 

8  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  went  out  unto  the  tabernacle  [tent],  tJiat  all  the 
people  rose  up,  and  stood  every  man  at  his  tent  door,  and  looked  after  Moses,  until 

9  he  was  gone  into  the  tabernacle  [tent].  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Moses  entered  into  the 
tabernacle  [tent],  the  cloudy  pillar  [pillar  of  cloud]  descended,  and  stood  at  the 

10  door  of  the  tabernacle  [tent],  and  Jehovah  talked  with  Moses.  And  all  the  people 
saw  the  cloudy  pillar  [pillar  of  cloud]  stand  [standing]  at  the  tabernacle  door  [door 
of  the  tent] :  and  all  the  people  rose  up  and  worshipped,  every  man  in  \at]  his  tent 

11  door.  And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his 
friend.  And  he  turned  again  into  the  camp :  but  his  servant  Joshua,  the  sou  of 
Nun,  a  young  man,  departed  not  out  of  the  tabernacle  [teut].^ 

TEXTUAL   AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

1  [Vers.  7-11.  We  have  left  the  A.  V.  salistantially  unchanged  out  of  defe 
and  commentators.  Bntytlie  fact  ought  to  be  noticed  that  the  verhs  in  this  si 
has  an  important  bearing  on  the  exegesis  of  the  passage. 

There  are  three  opinions  about  this  tent:  (1)  That  it  is  Moss'  own  tent. 
Tiaionally  «s  a  panctuary.  (3^  That  it  is  the  real  tabernacle,  but  tli;it  tli^-  i  ; 
of  course,  should  be  adopted  only  as  a  last  resort.  Ag.iinst  both  the  olb<r 
not  easily  to  be  accounted  for.  If  it  was  Moses'  tent,  why  not  VlTMi,  " 
■why  BO  indefinite  a  designation  of  it?  As  Kosenm filler  pertinently  ohservf- 
represented  as  iroing  into  it  only  for  the  sp^-cial  purjjoie  of  commuuing  witi 

what  was  ib.ije'«ith  the  real  tab.ruacle  b..r..r..  it  vvas'biiilt.     Ver.  12Ts'il.  :i 
■with  Jehov:i!.       Tli.it  r'r=    7  11  -.li-.i.M  l.nrr  iiitrvv.M-.-.  .,.  t  l^v  \v:,v  .-fun  ••>.•' 


fn^b':;';::;';:: 


fd  "  afar  off  f 


iini  goi„.jfar  r/fmrn.  Acconimg  to  ver. 
ought  and  found  :  and  there  (vt-r.  9)  J»-ho- 
XX  ii.  2  is  not  set  over  against  Jehovah  as 


a  sul.siitnt  •  l-r  Ilnii :  the  angel  himself  is 

It  rt-m.iun  to  notice  some  objections: 

Bervant,  could  go  with  liim  to  the  mountaii; 

to  it  to  meet      tl  C  d  — B  t  tl             HI 

also  sad  of  the  re  1  Tent  of  m 

"And  there  [It  the  talernacl  \   I 

their  ornan    nl      — Tl  s  d  ffi     1 

tinuat  on    t  th    1  re  t  ons  h 

parall  1    s  f        1       E           4  o       \    1  tl  e  1 

unto  th           P       si           V  7  H    M  tt    \ 

natur  lly  nt     lu     1    n    n  n  ed  ate  conn 

eeems  t    le  str  n^thened  ly  the  cons  derat 

Bion  any  sen  us  perplex  ty      In  ver  5  itsel 

r  e  a       1    n  1   s  hind  1  That  they  may  believe  that  the 
L  (»     M     k       10    L  ike  V     4      In  the  paaeage  before  i 
t  on  w  th  the  corre  p<    d  ng  command  of  ver.  5.— (■! 
t    n  that   fvers      11  are  the  words  of  Jehovah  it  ia  ui 
it}  rdp  rson  —But  s  ch  changes  of  person  are  too  nn 
5  itself  we  have  an  nstance  of  a  looseness  of  this  sort.    We 
,  "Say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  are  a  stiff-necked  people:  were  I  \i.* 
'  \  the  midst  of  thee,"  dc.    The  prophetical  w     ' 


iim.  iii    10.38, 


)  full  Of  Similar] 


C— JEnOVAH'S  DETERMINATION  MODIFIED  IN  CONSEQUENCE  OP  MOSES'  INTER- 
CESSION.     THE  PEOPLE  HAVE  A  SHARE  IN  THE  GRACE  SHOWN  TO  MOSES. 

Vers.  12-23. 

12  And  Moses  said  unto  Jcliovah,  See,  thou  sayest  unto  me,  Bring  up  this  people : 
and  thou  hast  not  let  me  know  whom  [him  whom]  thou  wilt  send  with  me.  Yet 
thou  hast  said,  I  know  thee  by  name,  and  thou  hast  also  found  grace  in  my  sight. 

13  Now,  therefore,  I  pray  thee,  if  [Now  therefore,  if  indeed]  I  have  fbuud  grace  in  thy 
sight,  show  me  now  [I  pray  thee]  thy  way,  that  I  may  know  thee,  that  I  may  find 

14  grace  in  thy  sight:  and  consider  that  this  nation  is  thy  people.     And  he  said.  My 

15  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  give  thee  rest.     And  he  said  unto  him,  If  thy 

16  presence  go  not  ivith  me,  carry  [take]  us  not  up  hence.  For  wherein  shall  it  be 
known  here  [whereby  now  shall  it  be  known]  that  I  and  thy  people  have  found 
grace  in  thy  sight?  is  it  not  in  that  thou  goest  with  us?  so  shall  we  be  [with  us, 
and  that  we  shall  be]  separated,  I  and  thy  people,  from  all  the  people  that  are  upon 

17  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  I  will  do  this  thing  also 
that  thou  hast  spoken :  for  thou  hast  found  grace  in  my  sight,  and  I  know  thee  by 

18  name.    And  he  said,  I  beseech  thee,  shew  me  [said,  Shew  me,  I  pray  thee]  thy  glorv. 

19  And  he  said,  I  will  make  all  my  goodness  [excellence]  pass  before  thee,  and  I  will 
proclaim  the  name  of  Jehovah  before  thee:  and  will  [I  will]  be  gracious  to  whom 

20  I  will  be  gracious,  and  will  show  mercy  on  whom  I  will  show  mercy.  And  he  said, 
Thou  canst  notsee  my  face,for  there  shallnoman[forman  shall  not]see  me,and  live. 

21  And  Jehovah  said.  Behold  there  is  a  place  by  me,  and  thou  shalt  stand  upon  a  [the] 

22  rock:  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  while  my  glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  in 

23  a  cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover  thee  with  my  hand  while  I  pass  b}'^:  And  I  will 
take  away  mine  [my]  hand,  and  thou  shalt  see  my  back  parts  [back]  :  but  my  face 
shall  not  be  seen. 

Ex.  xxxiv.,  as  frpquently  elsewhere,  we  have  also  instances  of  Jehovah  speaking  of  Himself  in  the  third  person,  m'd.  vers.  10, 
14,  23,  24,  20.— (5).  The  real  tabernacle  was  not  in  fact  set  up  at  a  distance  from  the  camp,  bat  in  the  centre  of  it,  according 

_.-  T_i        ,.1  ,-.;  '      Bd  in  consequence 


EXEGETICAL  AXD  CRITICAL. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  mysterious  chapters  in 
all  the  three  books  of  the  covenant.  It  charac- 
terizes the  Mosaic  MiJdle  Ages  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament as  essentially  a  theocratic  conflict  of  the 
pure  law  with  the  guilt  incurred  by  the  people 
through  their  idolatry.  The  people  are  par- 
doned; but  their  pardon  is  hierarchically  condi- 
tioned. The  first  limitation  consists  in  the  fact 
that  Jehovah  will  not  go  in  the  midst  of  the  peo- 
ple to  Canaan,  because  in  that  case  they  would 
expose  themselves  to  condemnation  through  their 
transgressions;  but  that  He  will  go  before  them 
by  Bending,  or  in  the  form  of,  an  angel.  The 
second  limitation  consists  in  the  fact  that  Moses 
removes  the  provisional  tabernacle  out  of  the 
camp,  by  which  act  even  the  camp  of  the  people 
of  God,  as  being  a  place  needing  purification,  is 
distinguished  from  the  sanctuary.  The  third 
limilaiion  consists  in  the  fact  that  Moses  himself, 
needing  on  account  of  his  vocation  a  more  dis- 
tinct revelation,  is  to  behold,  in  the  angel,  the 
face  of  Jehovah — the  gracious  form  in  which  Je- 
liovah  reveals  Himself;  yet  only  in  such  a  way 
that  he  is  to  see  the  glory  of  Jehovah  in  this  apo- 
calyptic form  not  in  a  front  view,  as  the  face  of 
the  face,  but  from  behind,  i.  e.,  in  the  after-splen- 
dor of  the  sudden  phenomenal  effects  produced 
by  Jehovah,  and  rapidly  passing  by  the  prophet's 


covered  eyes.  The  first  of  these  limitations  marks 
the  veiled  revelation  ;  the  second,  the  increased 
difficulty  of  holding  communion  with  God  ;  the 
third,  the  fact  that  the  knowledge  of  sacred  things 
is  removed  from  the  sphere  of  intuition, — is  to  be 
not  so  much  an  original  perception  as  a  matter 
of  practical  experience. — In  his  hunt  for  contra- 
dictions Knobel  imagines  that  he  has  discovered 
several  contradictions  in  this  chapter. — "Accord- 
ing to  the  Elohist,"  he  says,  "Jehovah  was  going 
to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Israel  in  the  tabernacle; 
otherwise  this  account."  According  to  the  Elo- 
hist, he  says  again,  the  tabernacle  was  made 
from  contributions;  whereas  here  the  ornaments 
delivered  up  were  used  in  building  the  taber- 
nacle (!).  Here,  then,  the  real  tabernacle  is  im- 
plied to  be  in  existence  before  the  time  when  it 
was  afterwards  built.  According  to  the  Elohist 
only  the  priests,  besides  Moses,  could  enter  the 
tabernacle;  here  Joshua  is  represented  as  dwell- 
ing in  it,  etc. 

a. — Appointment  of  the  Angel.  Vers.  1-6. 
Ver.  1.  Away,  go  up. — Since  the  tables  of 
the  law  were  broken,  and  the  tabernacle  was 
not  yet  built  (for  the  erection  of  it  presupposed 
the  existence  of  the  new  tables),  the  pardon  of 
the  people  appears  again  in  this  command  ns  a 
very  limited  one.  God  still  says,  "Thou  and  the 
people  which  thou  hast  brought  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,"  etc.  (as  in  xxxii.  7).     And  be- 


CHAP,  xxxiir. 


cause  Jehovah  is  still  determined  to  keep  His 
word  and  to  give  the  land  of  Canaan  to  Abraham's 
seed,  He  will  also  help  them  to  conquer  it.  He 
will  send  an  angel  of  terror  before  the  marching 
host  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites,  so  that  they 
shall  come  into  the  land  that  flows  with  milk  and 
honey  (vid.  iii.  8).  But  it  is  not  said  that  this 
angel  is  to  be  the  angel  of  Jehovah  in  the  most 
special  sense  of  that  term,  the  angel  of  His  pre- 
sence, or  of  the  covenant  (the  one  in  whom  Je- 
hovah's name  is,  according  to  xxiii.  21);  for  the 
revelation  of  Go^l  has  veiled  itself  again.  The 
people  obtain  primarily  only  life,  the  advantage 
over  the  Canaanites,  and  the  promise  of  the  land 
of  Canaan  "flowing  with  milk  and  honey,"  to 
shame  them  for  their  ingratitude.  On  the  other 
hand  Jehovah  declares,  "I  will  not  go  up  in  the 
midst  of  thee,"  etc.  This,  too,  like  the  promise 
of  the  angel,  is  an  obscure  utterance.  At  all 
events,  it  implies  the  temporary  suspension  of 
legislation  and  of  the  building  of  the  tabernacle. 
But  after  the  people  repent,  the  form  of  the 
angel  becomes  richer  in  significance,  and  access 
to  the  tabernacle  is  refused  to  the  people  only 
as  a  common  matter.  The  reason  assigned  is, 
that  the  people  in  their  stiff-neckedness  cannot 
endure  the  immediate  presence  of  Jehovah  with- 
out incurring  a  sentence  of  destruction  through 
their  continual  transgressions.  This  announce- 
ment of  the  obscuration  of  revelation — of  the 
curtailment  of  the  promise — falls  on  the  people 
as  a  heavy  infliction.  Therein  is  recognized  Is- 
rael's religious  temperament,  as  also  in  the  first 
symbolic  expression  of  the  common  repentance 
of  the  people,  ver.  4.  How  many  heathen  na- 
tions would  have  rejoiced,  if  God  had  declared 
that  He  would  not  dwell  in  the  midst  of  them! 
This  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  people  are 
in  mourning  and  do  not  put  on  their  ornaments  as 
at  other  times,  is  not  followed  (in  ver.  5),  as  Keil 
conceives,  by  another  threat  from  Jehovah.  It  is 
nearly  the  same  language  as  that  in  ver.  3,  but 
yet  is  now  used  to  give  comfort.  It  would  be 
the  destruction  of  them,  if  He  should  go  with 
them  in  the  fullness  of  His  revealed  glory,  in  full 
fellowship,  because  this  is  simply  beyond  their 
capacity,  because  they  are  born  and  grown  up 
as  a  stiff-necked  people.  Here  is  found  a  key 
to  the  understanding  of  the  Catholic  Middle 
-\ges,  and  of  the  parables  of  our  Lord  in  Matt, 
siii.  How  many  a  pietistic  Christian,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  excess  of  religious  fellowship  and 
edification,  in  connection  with  a  coarse  nature, 
has  fallen! — Nevertheless  Jehovah  gives  them 
hope  by  turning  into  a  precept  their  repentant 
act  of  laying  otf  their  ornaments.  So  then  the 
children  of  Israel  strip  themselves  of  their  orna- 
ments. We  translate  the  words  D^l'n  "IH^,  "  on 
account  of  mount  Horeb,"  i.  c,  on  account  of 
the  guilt  here  contracted,  and  of  the  divine 
punishment  denounced  from  Horeb.*  Horeb 
rests  on  them  now  as  a  burden.  As  to  the 
explanation,     "from    mount    Horeb    onwards," 


[Th. 


a  of  the  phrase 
Irom  Horel  to 
t  Horeb      b  it 


one  cannot  but  ask,  what  is  the  terminus  ad 
quern  ?  The  terminus  a  quo  also  would  be  open  to 
misunderstanding.  "  They  put  ou  none  of  their 
rings,  bracelets,  jewels,  or  other  ornaments,  as 
was  done  on  festive  occasions,  but  went  about  as 
mourners.  During  the  time  of  mourning  it  was 
customary  to  avoid  all  pomp,  and  not  to  deck 
one's  self  again  till  it  was  over  (Ezek.  xxiv.  17  ; 
xxvi.  16;  Judith  x.  3  sq.)"  (Kuobel). 
b.  Removal  of  the  Tent  of  Revelation,  or  Central 
Tent,  as  a  sort  of  Tradiliunal  Tabernacle,  before  the 
Camp.  The  Theocratic  Chastisement.  Vers.  7-11. 
The  people  are  not  restored  to  full  communion 
with  God  ;  but  in  the  person  of  Moses  this  is  re- 
served even  for  the  people.  Hence  the  new,  pro- 
visional order  of  things.  Moses  removes  his 
tent  outside  of  the  camp.  Emphasis  is  laid  ou 
the  fact  that  it  was  set  up  far  from  the  camp, 
and  also,  that  it  was  called  by  Moses  the  tent  of 
meeting,  showing  that  it  was  not  the  tabernacle 
iiself  which  had  been  before  prescribed.  The 
same  is  also  shown  by  the  fact  that  Joshua  re- 
mains permanently  in  this  tent  to  keep  guard, 
and  that  Moses  keeps  up  the  connection  between 
the  camp  and  the  tent  by  remaining  a  part  of 
the  time  in  the  camp,  doubtless  to  maintain 
order,  and  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  tent 
of  meeting  with  Jehovah,  to  receive  His  reve- 
lations and  commands.*  Thus  Moses  has  se- 
cured anew  stand-point  designed  to  bring  the 
penitent  people  to  a  renewed  life.  The  people 
must  go  out  to  him  outside  of  the  camp  (Heb. 
xiii.  13),  and  there  seek  Jehovah.  The  eS'ect  of 
this  is  shown,  first,  in  the  fact  that  individuals 
among  the  people  go  out  in  order  to  seek  and 
consult  Jehovah  at  the  tent  of  meeting  (ver.  7)  ; 
next,  in  the  expression  of  reverence  with  which 
all  the  people  accompanied  Moses'  going  to  the 
tent  (ver.  8)  ;  but  especially  in  the  fact  that  all 
the  people  cast  themselves  on  their  facos,  whoa 
the  mysterious  pillar  of  cloud  appeared  before 
the  tent,  i.e.,  where  at  a  later  time  the  aliar  of 
burnt-offering  stood,  and  beyond  tlie  cloud  Je- 
hovah talked  with  Moses  face  to  face,  ;'.  c,  in 
the  perfect  intercourse  of  God  with  the  friend  of 
God,  not  in  the  full  revelation  of  His  glory  (vid. 
ver.  19).  Thus  the  people  are  consecrated  in 
preparation  for  the  restoration  of  the  covenant, 
vid.  Num.  xii.  8;  Dent.  v.  4.  Knobel  finds  here 
again  a  contradiction.  He  says,  "  Reference  is 
made  not  to  Moses'  tent  (LXX.,  Syr.,  Jarchi, 
Aben  Ezra,  Piscator,  Baumg.arten),  or  to  another 
sanctuary  used  before  the  completion  of  the  ta- 
bernacle (Clericus,  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Vatablus, 
RosenmuUer),  but  the  tabernacle,"  etc.  That  the 
camp  must  from  the  first  have  had  a  central  tent, 
religious  head-quarters,  is  in  this  chase  after 
contradictions  never  dreamed  of.f  A  strange 
assumption  it  is,  too,  that  the  people  delivered 
up  their  ornaments  to  Moses  to  build  the  taber- 
nacle  with. 

c.  Modification  of  JehovaKs  Determination  in  con- 
sequence of  Moses'  Intercession.     Vers.  12-'23. 
Moses'   humble   request   that   Jehovah  would 

*  [But  where  did  be  sleep  an  1  eat  ?  Where  was  his  proper 
abidiog-place,  if  his  owq  tent  cnuld  be  used  only  when  be 
needed  special  revelations? — Tr.] 

t  [On  this  point  vid.  under  "  Textual  and  Grammatical.'* 
-TE.) 


140 


express  Himself  more  definitely  respecting  the 
promise  of  angelic  guidance  is  founded  partly 
on  the  progress  of  repentance  manifested  by  his 
people,  but  partly  and  especially  on  the  assu- 
rance of  favor  which  he  had  personally  received. 
As  before  he  would  not  hear  to  a  destruction  of 
the  people  in  which  he  should  not  be  involved, 
80  now  he  cannot  conceive  that  he  has  found 
grace  in  Jehovah's  eyes  for  himself  alone:  ra- 
ther, in  this  personal  favor  he  finds  a  reference 
to  his  people — a  hopeful  prospect  which  he  must 
become  acquainted  with.  But  he  at  once  draws 
the  inference  that  Jehovah  must  again  recognize 
OS  Bis  people  those  whom  He  has  before  called 
thy  f  Moses')  people  [xsxii.  "].  If  I  am  Thine, 
lei  the  people  be  Thine  also — this  is  again  the  sa- 
cerdotal, mediatorial  thought.  Here  [ver.  13] 
is  to  be  noticed  the  difference  between  'U  ["na- 
tion"] and  D;^  [-'people"].  The  former  term, 
derived  from  HU,  denotes  a  feature  of  nature,  in 
•which  is  involved  the  contrast  of  mountain  and 
valley ;  the  latter,  derived  from  DO;^,  denotes  a 
commonwealth  ethically  gathered  and  bound  to- 
gether. In  reply  to  this  petition  Moses  receives 
the  declaration,  "  My  presence  [lit.  face]  shall 
go."  The  indefinite  angel  (ver.  2),  therefore, 
now  becomes  the  face  of  Jehovah,  i.  e.,  at  least, 
the  angel  by  whom  He  reveals  Himself,  the  one  of- 
ten manifested  in  Genesis  and  afterwards  (angel  of 
God,  angel  of  Jehovah,  an  angel,  Jehovah's  face, 
vid.  Comm.  on  Genesis,  p.  380  sqq.)  ;  for  which 
reason  Isaiah  combines  both  notions  and  speaks  of 
the  angel  of  His  face  ["presence"  A. 'V^.]  in  Ixiii.  9. 
In  Mai.  iii.  1  occurs  the  expression,  -'angel  [A.Y. 
''messenger"]  of  the  covenant."  Moreover  God 
here  no  longer  says,  "He  shall  go  before  thee," 
but  "he  shall  go,"  go  out  and  give  thee  rest.  Here, 
then,  the  discourse  is  about  something  more  than 
milk  and  honey.  But  the  form  of  revelation  is 
Btill  obscure,  and  the  promise  is  connected  with 
the  parson  of  Moses,  though  now  tlie  people  are 
at  the  same  time  included.  But  Jloses  is  con- 
sistent with  himself,  and  firmly  seizing  hold  of 
Jehovah's  promise,  he  again  at  once  gives  it  a 
turn  in  favor  of  the  people.  He  takes  it  for 
granted  that,  with  him,  the  people  also  have 
found  grace  with  Jehovah;  thereon  he  founds 
the  entreaty  that  this  m.iy  not  remain  concealed, 
that  Jehovah  may  make  it  manifest  by  distin- 
guishing him  and  his  people,  in  His  guidance  of 
them,  from  all  other  nations  on  earth.  To  this 
also  Jehovah  assents,  but  explains  that  lie  does 
it  for  Moses'  sake.  But  Moses  in  his  prayer 
grows  bolder  and  bolder,  and  now  prays,  "Let 
me  see  thy  glory!"  Heretofore  all  of  Moses' 
requests  have  had  almost  more  reference  to  the 
good  of  the  people  than  to  his  own.  'We  must  there- 
fore conjecture  that  there  is  such  a  reference 
here.  But  ii  is  entirely  excluded  by  Keil,  when 
he  says,  "  What  Moses  desires,  then,  is  to  behold 
the  glory,  i.  e.,  the  glorious  essence  of  God." 
But  the  two  notions,  glory  and  glorious  essence, 
must  not  be  confounded.  The  glory  (ni33  rScija) 
is  the  apocalyptic  splendor  of  the  divine  essence, 
and  is  to  be  distinguished  from  this  essence  it- 
self;  it  is  Ihe  revelation  of  God  in  the  totaliti/  of 
I/is  attributes,  such  as  that  of  which  a  dim  vision 
terrified  Isaiah  (Isa.  vi.),  and  such  as  was  ma- 


nifested in  its  main  features  in  Christ  (John  i. 
14).  According  to  Keil,  Moses  desires  a  view  such 
as  cannot  be  realized  except  in  the  other  world; 
but  there  is  nothing  about  that  here.  Yet  it  is 
true  that  the  revelation  of  Jehovah  in  His  glory 
is  fulfilled  in  the  N.  T.  in  Christ.  And  Moses 
unconsciously  aims  at  this  very  thing,  and  as 
much  in  behalf  of  his  people  as  of  himself.  For 
only  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  can  Jeho- 
vah's glory  be  revealed.  This  seems  indeed  to 
be  contradicted  by  Jehovah's  declaration,  "Thou 
canst  not  see  my  face,  for  man  shall  not  see  me, 
and  live."  But  we  are  to  infer  from  this  that 
the  notion  of  the  perfect  revelation  of  God's  glory 
in  the  future  life,  of  the  great  Epiphany,  is  to  be 
sharply  distinguished  from  the  revelation  of  the 
glory  in  its  original  form.  This  distinction,  ne- 
vertheless, belonged  to  a  later  time  than  that  of 
Moses.  But  this  original  form  of  the  glory,  the 
grace  revealed  in  the  N.  T.,  which  is  what  Moses 
must  have  had  chiefly  in  mind,  he  %vas  to  behold 
at  least  in  a  figure.  So  then  his  petition  is 
granted  according  to  the  measure  of  his  capa- 
city, while  at  the  same  time  he  is  made  to  under- 
stand that  God's  glory  in  its  perfect  revelation 
transcends  his  petition  and  comprehension. — 
And  he  said,  I  will  make  all  my  goodness 
pass  before  thee  (should  we  render  -beauty" 
instead  of  "goodness?"  The  Greek  includes 
the  good  in  his  notion  of  the  beautiful;  the  He- 
brew, the  beautiful  in  the  good — but  not  first  or 
chiefly  the  beautiful*).  Accordingly  He  will 
expound  to  him  Jehovah's  name,  whose  most  es- 
sential significance  is  eternal  fidelity  in  His  eter- 
nal grace — a  second  promise,  whose  fulfilment  is 
related  in  xxxiv.  5  sqq.  When  now  Jehovah 
further  s.ays,  '-  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face,"  re- 
ference is  made  to  His  face  in  the  highest  sense, 
as  also  to  llis  glory,  which  means  the  same  thing, 
or  even  to  the  visibility  of  God  Himself.—"  For 
man  shall  not  see  me,  and  live."  That  here 
tbere  is  an  occult  intimation  of  existence  in  an- 
other world,  should  not  be  overlooked.  A  glory 
which  no  one  in  this  life  sees,  or  a  view  which 
can  be  attained  only  by  losing  this  life,  certainly 
could  not  be  spoken  of,  if  it  were  not  man's  goal  in 
the  future  life  to  attain  it.  Preparation  is  now- 
made  for  the  vision  which  Jehovah  is  going  to 
vouchsafe  to  Moses.  Moses  is  to  siand  in  a  ca- 
vity of  a  rock.  Jehovah's  glory  is  to  pass  by. 
But  while  it  is  coming  and  passing  by,  Jehovah 
is  to  hold  His  hand  over  his  eyes  until  His  glory 
has  passed  by,  lest  he  be  overcome  by  the  sight, 
and  perish.  But  then  he  may  look  after  the 
glory  that  has  passed,  and  see  it  on  the  back  side 
in  the  lingering  splendor  of  its  effects,  i.  e.,  see 
all  the  goodness  of  Jehovah, -the  eternity  of  His 
grace.  Who,  moreover,  could  see  Him  in  His 
frightfully  glorious  appearance  and  dominion 
without  being  crushed  and  snatched  away  from 
earth !  When  Christ,  uttering  the  words,  "  It  is 
finished,"  saw  the  full  glory  of  God  on  His  cross. 
He  bowed  His  head  and  died.  Over  His  eyes, 
too,  was  gently  placed  the  band  of  Omnipotence, 
as  He  cried  out,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  me  ?"     So  the   hand   of  Omnipo- 


■  rn^M  is  used  unquestionably  in  both  senses ;  but  as  our 
rd  "L-.iodnesa"  has  a  limited  8-nse,  we  have  substituted 
xcellence"  in  the  translati'^n,  as  romprelien-iing  both  the 
lion  of  moral  gooduoss  and  that  of  majesty.— Ta.] 


CHAP.  XXXIII.  1-23. 


tence  covers  the  eye  of  the  pious  man  with  fear 
and  terror,  with  sleep  and  faintness,  with  night 
and  darkness,  whilst  the  heavenly  day  of  God's 
glory  passes  over  the  world's  stage  in  His  light 
and  in  His  judgments;  afterwards  faith  discerns 
that  everything  was  goodness  and  grace. 

On  the  realization  of  the  vision,  which  took 
place  after  Moses  ascended  the  mountain,  vid., 
chap,  xxxiv.  Probably  Moses  saw  beforehand 
in  images  the  glorious  meaning  of  Jehovah's  pro- 
clamation. Of  Jehovah's  grace  in  its  manifesta- 
tion nothing  more  can  be  said  than  that  Moses 
himself  saw  only  the  after-gleam  of  the  mysteri- 
ous revelation  ;  yet  it  was  the  after-gleam  of  the 
glory.  But  it  is  a  wonderfully  grand  and  beau- 
tiful fact,  that  Moses  the  law-giver,  and  Elijah 
the  zealot  for  the  law,  both  received  in  a  cave  in 
frightful  Sinai  the  vision  of  the  fulness  of  good- 
ness and  grace,  the  vision  of  the  gentle  rustling* 
— the  vision  of  the  Gospel.  Is  this  the  same 
Sinai  which  has  been  so  often  pictured  by  me- 
diseval  doctors  and  ascetics?  "How  He  loved 
the  people,  with  His  fiery  law  in  His  hand,"  we 
read  in  Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  3.f 

Ver.  12.  Thou  hast  said,  I  know  thee  by 
name. — Not  every  word  of  Jehovah  to  Moses 
needs  to  have  been  reported  beforehand.  Ac- 
cording to  Knobel,  interpreting  as  usual  with  a 
literalness  amounting  to  caricature,  this  means, 
"  Thou  art  my  near  and  intimate  acquaintance." 
The  name  is  in  God's  mind  the  idea  of  the  being, 
and  accordingly  this  declaration  of  Jehovah's 
expresses  a  very  special,  personal  election  of 
Jloses.  But  Moses  knows  also,  according  to  ver. 
13,  that  his  election  and  the  grace  shown  to  him 
involve  a  determination  to  promote  the  good  of 
his  people. 

■Ver.  15.  He  will  be  led  to  Canaan  only  under 
the  direction  of  the  gracious  countenance,  or  not 
at  all.  Better  to  die  in  the  wilderness  than  to 
reach  his  goal  without  that  guidance. 


*  [This  phrase,  des  sav/ten  Sattsens^  is  from  Lntlier's  trans- 
lation of  npT  rT33T  bip  in  1  Kings  six.  12,  ein  stilks 
ice;"  literally, 

f  [A  somewhat  free  translation  and  inversion  of  the  last 
part  ot  ver.  2  and  the  fir,.^t  ijart  of  ver.  3,  the  former,  more- 
over, of  very  douljtful  meaning. — Te.] 


■Ver.  18.  On  the  climax  in  reference  to  the 
seeing  of  Jehovah  comp.  Keil,  II.  p.  236;  but  ob- 
serve the  distinction  between  God's  glory  and 
His  essence,  as  also  between  the  primary  vision 
of  His  glory  in  the  New  Testament  and  the  vision 
of  His  glory  in  the  other  world. 

Xer.  19.  I  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I 
wiU  be  gracious  [Lange  :  I  have  been  gra- 
cious, or  I  am  gracious  to  whom  I  shall  be 
gracious].  The  LX.K.  invert  the  order  of  time; 
"I  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  am  gracious." 
The  "Vulg.  led  to  Luther's  translation  [Wem  ich 
gnadig  bin,  dent  bin  ich  gniidig — "  I  am  gracious 
to  him  to  whom  I  am  gracious  "]  by  rendering, 
''miserebor  cut  voluero."  Paul,  in  Rom.  ix.  15, 
follows  the  LXX.  At  all  events  the  text,  taken 
literally,  does  not  involve  an  expression  of  abso- 
lute freedom  of  choice,  still  less  of  caprice.  It 
distinguishes  two  periods  of  time,  and  thus  be- 
comes an  interpretation  of  the  nunie  Jehovah, 
which  comprehends  the  three  periods  of  time. 
Accordingly  the  Hebrew  expression  affirms: 
"  My  grace  is  in  such  a  sense  consistent  and  per- 
sistent that,  wherever  I  show  it,  it  is  based  on 
profound  reasons  belonging  to  the  past."  The 
expression  in  the  LXX.  implies  essentially  the 
same:  "As  I  am  gracious  to  one  to-day,  so  will 
I  show  myself  gracious  to  him  continually." 
Luther's  translation  restores  the  distinction  be- 
tween grace  and  compassion,  which  the  Vulgate 
has  obliterated.*  Concerning  the  cave  on  Sinai, 
as  well  as  the  smaller  one  situated  lower  down, 
in  which  Moses,  according  to  tradition,  and  Eli- 
jah, according  to  conjecture,  stood,  vid.  Keil,  II. 
p.  239.t 


I  aiippoaed  tolmve 


sible,  that  borh  Moses  aud  Elijah  have 

atood  in  the  lower  cave.  There  is  no  evideucc  ot  tins.  (jomp. 
R.jbinson,  I.,  p.  152-  Palmer,  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  pp.  1U6, 
lao.— Tr.] 


THIRD    SECTION. 

The  New  Tables  of  the  Law  for  the  People  prone  to  a  Hierarchy.  Clearer  Revela- 
tion of  God's  Grace.  Sterner  Prohibition  of  Idolatry.  Stricter  Commands 
concerning  the  Passover,  the  First-born,  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Feasts.  Return 
of  Moses  with  the  Tables.     Moses'  Shining  Face  and  his  Veil. 

Chap.  XXXIV.  1-3-5. 

A.— THE  NEW  STONE  TABLES  FOR  THE  DIVINE  WRITING. 


1  And  Jehovah  said  iiiito  Moses,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone  like  unto  the  first : 
and  I  will  write  upon  these  [the]  tables  the  words  that  were  in  [on]  the  fir.«t  tables, 

2  which  thou  brakest.  And  be  ready  in  the  morning,  and  come  [go]  up  in  the  morn- 
ing unto  mount  Siuai,  and  present  thyself  there  to  me  in  [on]  the  top  of  the  mount. 

3  And  no  man  shall  come  [go]  up  with  thee,  neither  let  any  [and  also  let  no]  man 
be  seen  throughout  [in]  all  the  mount ;  neither  let  the  flocks  nor  [also  let  not  the 

4  flocks  and  the]  herds  feed  before  that  mount.  And  he  hewed  two  tables  of  stone 
like  unto  the  first;  and  IMoses  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  went  up  unto 
mount  Sinai,  as  Jehovah  had  commanded  him,  and  took  [him :  and  he  took]  in  his 
hand  the  [hand]  two  tables  of  stone. 

B.— JEHOV.\H'S  GRAND  PROCLAMATION  OF  .JEHOVAH'S  GRACE  ON  MOUNT  SINAI— 
HENCEFORTH  AN  ACCOMPANIMENT  OF  THE  TABLES  OF  THE  LAW. 

Vers.  5-10. 

5  And  Jehovah  descended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him  there,  and  proclaimed 

6  the  name  of  Jehovah.  And  Jehovah  passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  Jeho- 
vah, Jehovah  God,  merciful  [Jehovah,  a  God  merciful]  and  gracious,  long-suffer- 

7  ing,  and  abundant  in  goodness  [kindness]  and  truth.  Keeping  mercy  [kindness]  for 
thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  [sin :  but  he 
will]'  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty ;  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children  [of  fathers  upon  children]  and  upon  the  [upon]  children's  children,  unto 

8  [upon]  the  third  and  to  [upon]  the  fourth  generation.     And  jMoses  made  haste,  and 

9  bowed  hi.s  head  toward  [himself  to]  the  earth,  and  worshipped.  And  he  said,  If 
now  I  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  O  Jehovah,  let  my  Lord  [the  Lord],  I  pray 
thee,  go  among  us  ;  for  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people  ;  and  pardon  our  iuiquity  and  our 

10  sin,  and  take  us  for  thiue  inheritance.  And  he  said.  Behold,  I  make  a  covenant : 
before  all  thy  people  I  will  do  marvels,  such  as  have  not  been  done  in  all  the  earth, 
nor  in  any  nation :  and  all  the  people  among  which  thou  art  shall  see  the  work  of 
Jehovah :  for  it  is  a  terrible  thing  that  I  will  do  with  thee. 

TEXTUAL  AND   GRAMMATICAL. 

'  [Ver.  7.  Tho  A.  V.  here  entirely  neglects  the  accentuation,  and  thu?  almost  creates  a  paradox  out  of  these  antithetic 
clauses.  By  translating  Hp}}  as  a  relative  clause  (and  that  will,  etc.),  it  makes  the  impresdioa  that  the  same  construction 
is  continued,  whereas  not  only  does  tho  Athnach  precede  it,  bat,  instead  of  the  participle  of  the  preceding  clause,  we  have 
here  a  finite  verb  without  the  Relative  Pronoun.  The  A.  V.,  moreover,  makes  the  chief  division  of  the  verse  before  "  vi«it- 
inir,"  contrary  to  the  Hebrew  accentuation,  which,  quifo  in  accordance  with  the  sense,  connects  the  last  clause  with  the 
declaration:  "he  will  not  clear,"  etc.;  tho  confusion  of  thought  is  thus  made  complete.— Tr.J. 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  1-35. 


C— THE  GOLDEN  CALF  AN  OCCASION  FOR  A  MOST  STRINGENT  PROHIBITION  OF 
INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE  HEATHEN  CANAANITES.  THE  MORE  DEFINITE  ES- 
TABLISHMENT OF  THE  ISRAELITISH  COMMONWEALTH  IN  ITS  NEGATIVE  RE- 
LATIONS. 

Vers.  11-17. 

11  Observe  thou  that  which  I  command  thee  this  day:  behold,  I  drive  out  before 
[from  before]  thee  the  Amorite,  and  the  Canaanite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Periz- 

12  zite,  and  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite.  Take  heed  to  thyself,  lest  thou  make  a  co- 
venant with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  whither  thou  goest,  lest  it  be  for  [become] 

13  a  snare  in  the  midst  of  thee:  But  ye  shall  destroy  [tear  down]  their  altars,  break 

14  their  images,  and  cut  down  their  groves  [Asherim]  :"  For  thou  shalt  worship  no 
other  God :  for  Jehovah  whose  name  is  Jealous,  is  [Jehovah — his  name  is  Jealous ; 

1.5  he  is]  a  jealous  God :  Lest  thou  make  a  covenant  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land, 
and  they  go  a  whoring  after  their  gods,  and  do  [and]  sacrifice  unto  their  gods,  and 

16  one  call  thee,  and  thou  eat  of  his  sacrifice ;  And  thou  take  of  their  daughters  unto 
thy  sous,  and  their  daughters  go  a  whoring  after  their  gods,  and  make  thy  sons  go 

17  a  whoring  after  their  gods.     Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

D.— LEADING   POSITIVE   FEATURES    OF    THE   RELIGIOUS   COMMONWEALTH    OF    IS- 
RAEL.    SUPPLEMENTARY  LAWS  LIKEWISE  OCCASIONED  BY  THE  NEWLY  ARISEN 
NECESSITY  OF  EMPHASIZING  THE  DISTINCTIONS. 
Vers.  18-24. 

18  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  shalt  thou  keep.  Seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  un- 
leavened bread,  as  I  commanded  thee  in  the  time  [set  time]  of  the  month  Abib : 

19  for  in  the  month  Abib  thou  camest  out  from  Egypt.  All  that  openeth  the  matrix 
[womb]  is  mine :  and  every  fir.stling  among  thy  cattle,  whether  ox  or  sheep,  that  is 

20  male  [all  thy  male  cattle,  the  first-born  of  ox  and  sheep].  But  the  firstling  of  an 
ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a  lamb :  and  if  thou  redeem  him  not,  then  shalt  thou 
break  his  neck.     All  the  first-born  of  thy  sons  thou  shalt  redeem.     And  none  shall 

21  appear  before  me  empty.     Six  days  thou  shalt  work,  but  on  the  seventh  day  thou 

22  shalt  rest :  in  earing  [ploughing]  time  and  in  harvest  thou  shalt  rest.  And  thou 
shalt  observe  the  feast  of  weeks,  of  the  first-fruits  of  wheat  harvest,  and  the  feast 

23  of  ingathering  at  the  year's  end.     Thrice  in  the  year  shall  all  your  men-children 

24  [thy  males]  appear  before  the  Lord  God  [Jehovah],  the  God  of  Israel.  For  I  will 
cast  out  the  nations  before  [from  before]  thee,  and  enlarge  thy  borders :  neither 
shall  any  man  desire  thy  land,  when  thou  shalt  go  [goest]  up  to  appear  before 
Jehovah  thy  God  thrice  in  the  year. 

E.— THE  THREE  SYMBOLIC  PRINCIPAL  RULES  FOR  THEOCRATIC  CULTURE. 
Vers.  2.5,  26. 

25  Thou  shalt  not  oflTer  the  blond  of  my  sacrifice  with  leaven  [leavened  bread]  ; 
neither  shall  the  sacrifice  of  the  feast  of  the  passover  be  left  unto  the  morning. 

26  The  first  of  the  first-fruits  of  thy  land  [ground]  thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  house  of 
Jehovah  thy  God.     Thou  shalt  not  seethe  [boil]  a  kid  in  hLs  [its]  mother's  milk. 

F.— MOSES'  LOFTY  AND  IJISPIRED  MOOD  AT  THE  RENEWED  GIVING  OF  THE  LAW. 
CONTRAST  BETWEEN  THE  PRESENT  AND  THE  OTHER  DESCENT  FROM  THE 
MOUNTAIN. 

Vers.  27-35. 

27  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses,  Write  thou  these  words :  for  after  the  tenor  of 

28  these  words  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  thee  and  with  Israel.     And  he  was  there 

2  [Ver.  13.  The  word  nityX,  here  aud  elsewhere  rendered  ''groves"  in  the  A.  V.,  always  refers  either  to  a  heathen 
goddess  or  to  imaffes  representing  her — commonly  the  latter,  especially  when  Cas  here  and  most  freqaently)  it  is  nsed  in 
the  piiiral  (D'ltr'X).  It  must  denote  the  goddess,  e.  J.  in  1  Kingj  xv.  13,  where  it  is  said:  "She  had  made  an  idol  for 
Asherah"  I'A.  T.  "in  a  prove").  This  goddess  sometimes  seems  to  be  i.lentical  with  Ashtaroth.  For  particnlars  rid.  the 
l.exic-in^  aiiii  Encyclopedins.  That  the  word  cannot  mean  "  prove  "  is  snffi  iently  shown  by  such  passages  fis  2  Kiniis  xvii. 
10,  wheie  the  Aslierim  are  said  to  have  been  set  up  in  every  high  hill  and  unJer  every  green  tree;  and  2  Kings  xxiM.  G, 
where  it  is  said  tliat  Josiah  •'  brought  out  the  Asherah  frorti  the  house  of  the  Lord." — Tr.]. 

13 


EXODUS. 


with  Jehovah  forty  days  and  forty  nights;  he  did  neither  eat  bread  nor  drink  wa- 
ter.   And  he  wrote  upon  the  tables  the  words  of  the  covenant  the  ten  command- 

29  ments.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  came  down  from  mount  Sinai  with  the 
two  tables  of  [of  the]  testimony  in  Moses'  hand,  when  he  came  down  from  the 
mount,  that  Moses  wist  [knew]  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone'  while  he  talked 

30  [because  of  his  talking]  with  him.  And  when  [And]  Aaron  and  all  the  children 
of  Israel  saw  Moses,  behold  [and  behold],  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  ;  and  they  were 

31  afraid  to  come  nigh  him.  And  Moses  called  unto  them ;  and  Aaron  and  all  the 
rulers  of  the  congregation  returned  unto  him:  and  Moses  talked  with  [spake  uuto] 

32  them.     And  afterward  all  the  children  of  Israel  came  nigh  ;  and  he  gave  them  in 

33  commandment  all  that  Jehovah  had  spoken  with  him  in  mount  Sinai.  And  till 
Moses  had  done  speaking  [And  Moses  left  off  speaking]  with  them,  he  [and  he] 

34  put  a  veil  on  his  face.  IBut  when  Moses  went  in  before  Jehovah  to  speak  with 
him,  he  took  the  veil  off,  until  he  came  out.     And  he  came  out  and  spake  unto  the 

35  children  of  Israel  that  which  he  was  commanded.  And  the  children  of  Israel  saw 
the  face  of  Moses,  that  the  skin  of  Moses'  face  shone :  and  Moses  put  the  veil  upon 
his  face  again,  until  he  went  in  to  speak  with  him. 


a  [Ver.  29.  The  verb  pp  < 
0  have  horns,"  while  the  noii 


1  in  Kal ;  it  is  nsed  once  (Ps.  Ixix.  31)  in  Hiphil,  where  it  means 
"  horn."    Hence  originated  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Vulgate 


pp  ordinarily  i 

co7T7«fo,"  "horned ;"  and  this  accounts  for  the  notion,  incorporated  in  art  representations  of  Moses,  that  he  had  horns 
T'Hving  out  of  his  face.  The  point  of  resemblance  is  in  the  appearance  of  the  rays  of  a  luminary  shooting  out  like  horus. 
-Te.J. 

presupposed  the  preparation  of  the  tables  of 
thelawand  a  covenant-feast.  Since  now  nothing 
is  said  of  a  new  covenant-feasi,  Keil's  assump- 
tion may  in  some  sense  be  admitted.  For  the 
covenant  is  not  simply  restored;  it  is  at  the 
same  time  modified.  The  law  is  now  made  to 
rest  on  pardon,  and  is  accompanied  by  Jehovah's 
proclamation  of  grace  ;  yet  nevertheless  in  many 
of  its  provisions  it  is  made  stricter  in  this  chap- 
ter. The  relation  between  the  tabernacle  and 
the  camp  is  made  more  hierarchical;  and  in 
relation  to  His  form  of  revelation,  Jehovah  dis- 
tinguishes more  sharply  betw'een  His  face  and 
the  display  of  His  essence.  But  with  the  notion 
of  the  face*  is  introduced  also  a  further  deve- 
lopment of  revelation,  as  also  with  the  pro- 
clamation of  grace.  Jehovah's  command,  He'w 
thee  two  tables  of  stone,  leads  Keil  to  ex- 
press the  opinion  that  the  tir.«t  tables,  both  as  to 
writing  and  material,  ''originated  with  God," 
as  contrasted  with  any  co-operation  from  Moses, 
/.  e.  that  they  were  made  by  God  in  an  entirely 
supernatural  way.  This  literalness  of  interpre- 
tation is  made  to  receive  support  from  the  dis- 
tinction between  "tables  of  stone"  (xxiv.  12; 
xxxi.  18)  and  "tables  of  stones"  (vers.  1  and 
4  of  this  chapter).!  Hengstenberg  and  Baum- 
garten  have  in  a  similar  way  vexed  themselves 
with  this  variation  of  the  letter.  It  is  barely 
possible  that  the  stony  hardness  of  the  law  was 
meant  to  be  more  strongly  emphasized  in  the 
second  case  than  in  the  first. 

Ver.  3.  And  no  man. — The  sharp  command 
not  to  approach  the  mountain  is,  it  is  true,  sub- 
stantially a  repetition  of  the  previous  one:  but 
it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  mountain  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  covenant  had  been  made 
accessible  up  to  a  certain   height  to  Aaron,   his 


EXEGETICAL   AND    CRITICAL. 

This  chapter  contains  the  acme  and  bloom  of 
the  Mosaic  revelation,  and  so,  of  the  three  mid- 
dle books  of  the  Pentateuch.  In  the  first  place, 
the  renewed  law  is  wholly  removed  into  the 
light  of  grace  by  Jehovah's  grand  proclamation 
of  the  significance  of  the  name  Jehovah — Jeho- 
vah's own  proclamation  on  Sinai  itself  concern- 
ing the  very  name  Jehovah,  that  it  means  that 
He  is  "a  God  merciful,  gracious,  long-suffering, 
and  abundant  in  grace  and  truth,"  etc.: — all  this 
most  prominently ;  but  for  this  very  reason, 
next  in  prominence,  and  on  account  of  His 
righteousness,  that  He  is  a  punisher  of  all  sin 
and  g'lilt. 

Next,  the  Israelitish  community  is  put  on  its 
guard  against  the  danger  of  wrong  intercourse 
with  the  Canaanites ;  and  everything  severe 
that  is  ordained  against  these  is  founded  on  a 
religious  and  moral  ground.  In  contrast  with 
the  corruptions  of  the  heathen  worship  the  out- 
lines of  the  worship  designed  for  Israel  are  then 
summarily  given,  and  finally  the  great  blessing 
of  peace  secured  by  this  worship  is  proclaimed. 
In  this  attempt  to  give  the  main  features  of  the 
cliapter  a  universal  application,  the  specific  pre- 
cepts inserted  in  vers.  2-5,  26,  create  a  difficulty. 
We  regard  them  as  symbolic  precepts,  requiring 
a  strict  form  of  worship,  sanctified  culture, 
humane  festivity  free  from  luxury.  The  last 
section,  however,  presents  unmistakably  the  real 
glory  of  the  Mosaic  covenant  in  Moses'  shining 
face  (vid.  2  Cor.  iii.  7). 

fl.  The  iVew  Slonc  Tnhhs  for  the  Divine  Writinff. 
Vers.  1-4. 
Ver.  1  And  Jehovah  said  unto  Moses. 
Keil  hohls  that  Moses  has  alrrady  restored  the 
Covenant-relation  tliroiigh  his  intercession,  ac- 
cording lo  xxxiii.  14.  But  if  we  refer  to  (lie 
first  ratification  of  the  covenant,  we  find  that  it 


CHAP.  XXXIV.  1-35. 


145 


two  oldest  sons,  and  the  seventy  elders  of  Israel 
— nay,  that  they  had  been  invited  by  Jehovah  to 
celebrate  there  a  feast.  This  is  now  changed 
since  the  sin  in  the  matter  of  the  golden  calf. 

Ver.  4.  And  Moses  hewed  two  tables 
of  stone. — Was  he  obliged  to  do  it  himself, 
because  he  had  broken  the  first,  as  Rashi  holds? 
Or,  was  he  not  rather  obliged  to  do  it  before 
the  eyes  of  the  people,  in  order  by  this  act  to 
give  "the  people  another  sermon?  The  tables 
were  designed. for  the  ten  words  (ver.  1 ) — a  truth 
which  ought  to  be  self-evident,  though  Giitlie  and 
Hitzig  have  conjectured  that  the  precepts  of  vers. 
12-26  are  meant;  vid.  Keil's  note  11.,  p.  239. 
The  Epistle  of  Barnabas  (Epistola  XIV.)  takes 
quite  another  view,  and  gives  an  allegorical 
interpretation  of  the  diiference  between  the  first 
tables  and  the  second.  It  was  not  till  now  that 
the  ten  words  of  the  instruction  (thnrah,  law), 
the  angelic  words  (Acts  vii.  53),  really  became 
words  of  stony  ordinance. 

b.  The  grand  Proclamation  of  Grace  on  Sinai,  hence- 
forth an  Accompaniment  of  the  Tables  of  the  Law. 
Vers.  5-10. 

Ver.  5.  And  Jehovah  descended.— This 
is  (he  heading.  Then  in  ver.  6  first  follows  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise  that  He  would  let  all 
His  goodness  pass  before  him.  The  narrative 
goes  beyond  this  in  the  grandly  mysterious  ex- 
pression, "Jehovah  passed  by  before  him."  Then 
follows  the  proclamation.  Here  much  depends 
on  the  construction.  Would  Jehovah  Himself 
call  out  "Jehovah,  Jehovah?"  This  is  a  form 
of  expression  appropriate  to  human  adoration, 
but  not  to  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  Himself.  We 
therefore  construe  thus:  "and  Jehovah  pro- 
claimed"— a  rendering  favored  by  the  fact  that 
we  are  thus  obliged  to  make  a  decided  pause  af- 
ter the  words, "  Jehovah  passed  by  before  him."* 
Jehovah,  then,  has  expounded  the  name  Jehovah 
on  Mount  Sinai;  and  what  is  the  proclamation? 
It  is  not  said,  Jehovah  is  the  Eternal  one,  but 
Jehovah  as  the  Strong  one  (7N)  is  Lord  of  time, 
in  that  He  remains  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever,  in  His  faiihlulness.  His  loving- 
kindness  pon)  branches  out  in  compassion  (He 
is  Din^)  on  the  miserable,  grace  (lie  is  jWH)  to- 
w.ards  the  guilty,  long-suffering  towards  human 
■weakness  and  perverseness.  But  He  is  rich  in 
His  loving-kindness  and  in  the  reconciliation  of 
it  with  His  truth,  or  faithfulness  (nOK).  His 
kindness  He  keeps  unto  the  thousands  (begin- 
ning with  one  pardoned  man);  in  His  truth 
He  takes  away  (as  Judge,  Expiator,   and  Sanc- 


ifier)   gu 


ifaithfuln 


ad    sins  ;  but 


also  lets  not  the  least  offence  pass  unpunished, 
but  visits,  in  final  retribution,  the  guilt  of  the 
transgression  of  fathers  upon  children  and  chil- 
dren's children,  upon  the  third  and  the  fourth 
generation  —  grand-children    and    great-grand- 


*  [This  change  is  secured  by  simply  neglecting  the  Maso- 
retic  punctuation,  an<l   making  thy    "Jehovah"  folio 
"  proclaimed  "  the  subject  of  the  verb.    But  there  seems  to 
be  hardly  sutBcient  reason  for  the  change.    The  repetit: 
of  the  name  is,  on  the  contrary,  natural  and  impressive,  and 

expression  of  mere  awe.— Tb.J 


As  EliJ 


vards  co- 


children,  vid.  ch.  XX. 
vered  his  face  with  his  mantle  at  the  si  ill 
small  voice,  Moses  at  these  words  quickly 
prostrates  himself  on  the  ground.  Thus  tlje 
presentiment  and  the  anticipation  of  the  Gos- 
pel casts  the  strongest  heroes  of  the  law  upon 
their  faces  in  homage,  vid.  Luke  is.  30,  31. 
The  petition  which  Moses  feels  encouraged  by 
this  great  revelation  of  grace  to  offer  is  also  a 
proof  that  the  first  covenant  relation  is  not  yet 
quite  restored.  He  asks  that  Jehovah  Himself, 
as  the  Lord  f  J'lS)  may  go  with  them.  This  must 
mean,  as  a  mighty,  stern  ruler  of  the  stiff-necked 
people,  in  distinction  from  the  angel  of  Jehovah's 
face;  this  is  one  point.  But  he  then  asks  that 
God,  as  the  Lord,  may  go  with  them  in  the  very 
midst  of  them,  not  merely  go  before  them  at  a  dis- 
tance; this  is  the  second  point,  little  in  harmony 
with  the  first.  For  it  is  again  in  a  more  definite 
form,  as  in  the  petition,  "let  me  see  thy  face" — 
a  petition  for  New  Testament  relations,  a  petition 
for  the  presence  of  Jehovah  as  the  guiding  Lord 
in  the  midst  of  the  congregation.  The  addition, 
"  for  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people,"  would  be  a  poor 
reason  for  the  request,  were  it  not  this  time  an 
excuse  for  the  people's  sin  on  the  ground  of 
their  natural  slavery  to  sin,  their  inborn  wretch- 
edness, which  makes  it  necessary  that  the  per- 
sonal presence  of  the  Lord  should  be  vouchsafed 
in  order  to  overcome  and  control  it.  The  thing 
aimed  at  in  his  petition  is  perfect  fellowship  ; 
hence  he  says,  "  Pardon  our  iniquity  and  our 
sin,  and  make  us  thine  inheritance."  He  has  in 
mind  an  ideal  servile  relation  bordering  on  the 
N.  T.  idea  of  adoption,  but  one  more  likely  to  be 
realized  in  the  N.  T.  hierarchy,  just  as  the  Pla- 
tonic ideal  state  is  realized  in  monasticism.  Je- 
hovah's answer  now  does  not  point  to  a  complete 
restoration  of  the  violated  covenant,  but  as  little 
does  it  involve  an  immediate  promise  of  the  new 
covenant;  Hedescribesrather  Hisfutureruleasa 
constant,  continuous  establishment  of  a  covenant 
(ITlb  '3JX  nan,  "teUold,  I  am  making  a  cove- 
nant"), a  transition,  therefore,  from  the  old  co- 
venant, which  already  as  a  legal  covenant  has 
been  violated,  to  a  new  covenant.  And  this  is 
the  means  by  which  He  will  establish  it :  "  Be- 
fore all  thy  people  I  will  do  marvels."  The  mi- 
racles are  by  this  description  put  above  all  oihera 
that  have  been  done  in  all  the  earth.  "  All  the 
people  m  Me  mirf.i<  o/tt'AicA  thou  art,"  it  is  said 
in  contrast  with  Moses'  desire  that  Jehovah 
should  be  in  the  midst  of  them,  "  shall  see  the  work 
of  Jehovah,  how  terribly  great  that  is  which  I 
shall  accomplish  with  thee."  Thus  Moses  him- 
self is  prominently  elevated  and  appointed  to  l>e 
the  animating  soul  of  the  people;  the  sublime 
and  terrifying  miracles  of  Jehovah  are  to  pro- 
coed  from  Jehovah's  intercourse  with  him  as  tha 
administrator  of  the  law.  Doubtless  the  sight 
which  the  people  are  to  h.ave  of  these  miracles 
is  designed  to  be  a  salutary  one;  but  the  strong 
expression  indicates  the  decisive  solemnity  of  the 
sight.  Keil  makes  prominent  among  the  terrible 
works  of  Jehovah  the  overthrow  of  all  the  pow- 
ers that  hostilely  resist  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Keil  says:  "  This  'sermon  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord,'  as  Luther  calls  it,  discloses  to  Moses  the 
inmost  essence  of  Jehovah.     It  proclaims  that 


Goil  is  love."  But  in  this  way  the  old  covenant  is 
made  the  perfect  new  one.  It  Is  true,  however,  that 
here  eoiiipassion,  grace,  and  long-suffering  are 
combined  by  means  of  kindness  and  truth — not 
merely  in  addition  to  kindness  and  truth — with  ho- 
liness and  justice,  and  that  grace  here  appears  in 
tbe  foreground.  Keilalso  rightly  notices  the  col- 
lective expression, "  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people :  and 
pardon  our  iniquity,"  etc.  Keil's  remark,  more- 
over, that  "the  reference  made  to  the  natural 
ground  of  the  sin  mitigates  the  wrath,"  is  not 
Augustinian. 

According  to  Knobel  Jehovah  is  to  call  out  His 
name  to  Moses  only  in  oi-der  that  he  may  by 
means  of  it  recognize  Jehovah's  appearance. 
Also  he  makes  i\'OT  X7  T\pi  mean,  "  He  will 
not  le.ave  entirely  unpunished."*  Vers.  9-28  he 
calls  a  repetition,  and  therefore  ascribes  to  the 
"  second  narrator." 

<r.  The  Golden  Calf  an  Occasion  for  a  most  Strin- 
gent Prohibition  of  Intercourse  with  the  Heathen 
Cananniles.  The  more  Definite  Estahlixhment 
of  the  hraelitish  Commonwealth  negatively  con- 
kdered.  Vers.  11-17. 

To  the  religion  of  the  law,  supplemented  by 
the  proclajaatiou  of  grace,  corresponds  the  reli- 
gious community,  destined  to  be  the  upholders 
of  this  religion.  A  more  exact  fixing  of  their 
relation  than  that  laid  down  in'  xxiii.  23  has 
become  necessary  on  account  of  the  affair  of  the 
golden  calf.  In  the  paragraph  before  us  this 
community  is  defined  chiefly  in  a  negative  way. 
It  has  been  already  said,  that  Jehovah  would 
drive  out  the  Canaanites  {vid.  the  names,  xxiii. 
23),  but  not  all  at  once.  This  m.ay  well  refer  to 
a  destruction  of  them  in  war,  but  not  to  a  de- 
Btruclion  of  them  in  so  far  as  they  have  sub- 
mitted themselves  to  the  civil  law.  We  know 
how,  as  being  strangers,  they  are  even  put 
under  the  protection  of  the  law.  But  inasmuch 
as  they  may  tend  to  ruin  Israel  with  their  hea- 
tlienish  abominations,  all  intimate  alliances  with 
them  are  forbidden  at  the  outset.  Religion 
is  the  thing  here  chiefly  concerned.  The  signs 
of  a  public  heathen  worship,  especially  the 
wooden  pillars  of  the  voluptuous  worship,  as 
well  as  the  images  of  Asherah,  they  are  to  ex- 
tirpate; they  are  to  destroy  the  seductive  sym- 
bols wherever  found.  There  is  here  no  trace 
of  a  persecution  of  private  religious  opinions 
and  devotions.  Moreover,  the  reason  for  that 
severity  is  given  in  ver.  14:  it  is  to  secure  the 
adoration  of  the  true  God,  who  is  jealous  of  His 
relation  to  Israel.     Over   against  the  dark,  vo- 


u  full  ona  of  tlwo:  but  1  wjl 
vill  not  leave  thee  aUogotli'- 


vlR^^, 


X  nS  np2i.' 


destroy  ("TOU/X  TOilTI  N7)  the  house  of  Jacob.' 
litre  t 


luptuous  religious  worship  is  presented  the  pure 
image  of  conjugal  fellowship  between  Jehovah 
and  His  people  (vid.  Keil  II.,  p.  243) — a  repre- 
sentation growing  more  and  more  definite  all  the 
way  through  the  Scriptures  to  tiie  Apocalypse, 
and  introduced  as  early  as  xx.  5.  where  Jehovah 
is  called  N3p  ["jealous"]  in  the  giving  of  the 
law — an  expression  which  twice  recurs  here. 
As  heathen  idolatry  is  in  itself  to  be  regarded 
as  whoredom,  i.  e.  as  apostasy  from  the  living 
God,  so  the  Canaanitish  heathenism  particularly 
has  developed  within  itself  the  consequences  of 
moral  whoredom.  But  Israel  may  become  in- 
volved in  this  double  whoredom,  especially  in 
two  ways.  In  the  first  place,  by  taking  part  in 
the  seductive  sacrificial  meals  of  the  heathen,  to 
which  they  will  be  invited,  as  afterwards  such  par- 
ticipation became  a  snare  to  the  people  at  SUiitira 
(Num.  XXV.);  but  especially  by  intermarriages 
between  Israelitish  sons  and  heathen  women, 
such  as  afterwards  caused  Solomon  to  fall.  The 
dangerous  influence  of  female  bigotry  on  the  reli- 
gion of  the  men,  the  dangerousness,  therefore, 
of  mingling  religions  in  marriage,  is  thus  early 
expressed  with  the  strongest  words  of  warning. 
An  impure  marriage — often  induced  by  lustful 
views  of  spiritual  jisherah-images — easily  works 
destruction  to  the  archetype  of  pure  mar- 
riage, the  relation  of  Jehovah  to  His  congrega- 
tion. Therefore  also  the  law  here  expressly 
treats  of  the  setting  up  of  molten  gods,  as  being 
a  transition  to  the  lapse  into  complete  idolatry. 
On  the  notion  of  whoredom  in  the  religious  sense, 
as  well  as  on  the  names  Asherah  and  Astarte, 
comp.  especially  Winer,  Eealwijrterbuch.  That 
the  name  Asherah  denotes  the  idol-image  of 
Astarte,  the  Syrian  goddess,  who  was  worshipped 
with  voluptuous  rites,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
it  stands  together  with  other  monuments,  and 
can  be  destroyed;  but  whether  the  form  of  it 
suggests  Phallic  worship  is  not  determined ;  at 
all  events  the  name  might  indicate  something  of 
tbe  sort,  as  containing  an  allusion  to  lust.* 
The  LXX.  and  Luther  [so  A.  V.]  have  rendered 
the  word  by  "grove"  (idol-grove). 

d.  Leading  Positive  Features  of  the  Religious  Com- 
monwealth of  Israel.  Vers.  18-24. 
The  leading  features  of  the  theocratic  com- 
monwealth are  sacred  feasts,  resting  on  the  facts 
and  doctrines  which  have  given  the  community 
an  organized  existence.  This  section  insists  on 
the  three  chief  feasts  of  Israel  as  essential  to 
the  life  of  the  Israelitish  commonwealth.  But  why 
is  the  first  feast,  which  is  a  double  feast,  called 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  rather  than  the 
Passover?  The  unleavened  bread  was  the  sym- 
bol of  separation  from  Egypt  and  heathenism — 
a  separation  combined  with  abstemiousness  ;  for 
this  reason  probably  this  idea  is  here  made  pro- 
minent, since  the  thing  in  point  is  to  establish 
a  perpetual  opposition  to  heathenism.     With  this 


[QeseniuB  finds  no  such  meaning  in  the  root  li^X.  or 
It^N,  the  radical  significance  of  wliich  he  defines  as  "  hap- 
n,"  "fortune."  Hence  he  regards  Dltf  X  iis— .Forfana. 
t.  however,  aSBnnics  M  the  rri'Hcnl  moaning  "to  be 
■<l,"  sr.  \>y  love;  and  Lange  iirobubly  refers  to  this  deri- 
n.— Tr.] 


CHAP.  XXXIV. 


there  is  also  united  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
Bacrifice  of  renunciation.  With  the  claim  ac- 
tually made  by  Jehovah  on  all  the  male  first- 
born is  asserted  His  right  to  all  that  are  born, 
as  being  represented  by  the  first-born  ;  or,  con- 
Tersely,  the  entire  dependence  of  the  people, 
with  all  their  possessions,  on  Jehovah.  This 
consecration  of  the  first-born  has  three  leading 
forms.  The  first-born  son  is  by  birth  a  priest; 
he  must  therefore  be  released  by  an  offering 
from  the  service  legally  required  of  priests. 
Also  the  first-born  ass  (this  code  of  laws  knows 
nothing  of  horses)  must  be  either  ransomed  or 
killed.  The  first-born  of  cattle  is  the  choicest 
offering;  the  calf,  moreover,  as  an  offering  from 
among  the  larger  animals,  forms  a  suggestive 
contrast  to  the  calf  as  an  idol.  It  is  then  inti- 
mated, furthermore,  that  other  offerings,  besides 
those  of  the  first-born,  are  to  be  brought,  in  the 
expression:  "None  shall  appear  before  me 
empty." 

The  first  distinction  between  the  people  of 
God  and  heathendom  involves  renunciation  of 
the  world;  the  second,  labor.  In  heathendom 
labor  and  holidays  are  confusedly  blended  ;  in 
the  theocracy  a  clear  contrast  is  made.  Labor 
is  marked  by  the  time  devoted  to  it,  (he  week- 
days. The  Sabbath,  as  the  seventh  day,  marks 
consecrated  labor  which  has  reached  its  goal  in 
a  holiday.  After  seven  weeks,  or  seven  times 
seven  days,  comes  next  the  second  feast,  the 
feast  of  weeks,  Pentecost.  The  grain  harvest, 
which  began  after  the  Passover-Sabbath,  is  now 
finished;  the  feast  of  harvest  is  celebrated  as 
the  annual  festival  of  the  blessing  of  labor. 
The  feast  which  embodies  the  highest  form  of 
theocratic  enjoyment,  the  feast  of  the  fruit-ga- 
thering and  the  vintage,  or  the  feast  of  taberna- 
cles, is  here  only  briefly  mentioned.  It  forms  a 
contrast  to  the  first  feast  of  harvest;  for  Pente- 
cost is  the  feast  of  the  daily  bread  which  is  ob- 
tained by  labor  and  at  last  by  reaping,  and  two 
specimens  of  which  are  laid  on  the  altar.  The 
feast  of  tabernacles  is  th»  feast  of  the  gathering 
up  of  the  blessing  poured  out  by  God  in  gifts 
which  contribute  to  joy  and  prosperity.  This 
festival  of  joy  and  blessing  is  the  real  vital  oil 
of  the  theocratic  community.  It  is,  however,  a 
condition  of  the  three  feasts,  that  all  the  men 
(voluntary  attendance  of  women  and  children 
not  being  excluded)  must  appear  three  times  a 
year  before  Jehovah,  i.  e.  at  the  sanctuary. 
There  is  something  grand  in  the  assurance  of 
the  security  which  the  land  will  enjoy,  in  that 
no  danger  will  accrue  from  the  going  up  to  the 
feasts.  But  never  was  the  nation  stronger  and 
more  warlike  than  when  it  had  in  this  way 
obtained  concentration  and  inspiration  [vid.  xii. 


Nu 


e.  The  Three  Symbolic  Principal  Rules  for  Theo- 
cratic Culture.  Vers.  25,  26. 
The  first  of  these  main  rules  requires  first  of 
all  that  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  shall  be 
kept  pure,  and  so  stands  for  the  duty  of  keeping 
worsliip  in  general  pure  ;  it  is  marked  by  the 
precept  requiring  all  leaveu  to  be  removed  be- 


fore the  time  when  the  passover  was  slain,  and 
not  less  by  the  requirement  that  the  remains  of 
the  passover  must  be  burnt,  not  desecrated  by 
common  use,  and  not  allowed  to  pa-^s  over,  as  an 
element  of  desecration,  into  the  abstemious  sea- 
son of  unleavened  bread. 

The  second  main  rule  requires  that  labor  and 
enjoyment  shall  be  kept  sacred,  and  is  marked 
by  the  requirement  to  bring,  first  of  all,  the  first- 
fruits  into  the  house  of  Jehovah.  It  has  a  spe- 
cial relation  to  the  second  feast. 

The  third  main  rule  requires  that  the  enjoy- 
ment of  food  shall  be  kept  eacred  by  the  avoid- 
ance of  inhuman  and  luxurious  forms  of  it  {vid. 
xxiii.  19;  Dent.  xiv.  21).  This  indicates  a  spe- 
cial relation  to  the  third  feast. 


/.  Moses'  Lofty  and  Inspired  Mood  at  the  Renewed 
Giving  of  the  Law.  Contrast  between  the  Pre- 
sent and  the  Former  Descent  from  'he  Mountain. 
Vers.  27-35. 

Here  is  to  be  observed,  first  of  all,  a  difference 
in  the  law  which  is  given.  The  ten  command- 
ments were  originally  addressed  directly  to 
Israel,  and  through  Israel  designed  for  mankind, 
as  the  immutable  fundamental  laws  of  morality, 
which  are  now  also  repeated  on  the  new  tables, 
ver.  28.  But  Moses  received  the  fundamental 
laws  of  the  Israelitish  theocracy  for  Israel ; 
before  the  conclusion  of  the  covenant  he  received 
the  outlines  of  the  three-fold  code  of  laws  (xx. 
22-xxiii.),  which,  it  is  implied,  are  also  written 
down  ;  but  after  the  conclusion  of  the  covenant 
he  received  the  ordinance  concerning  the  taber- 
nacle, XXV.— xxxi.  Now,  however,  he  is  com- 
manded to  write  down  also  the  more  minute 
regulations  for  the  theocratic  community,  which 
have  been  shown  to  be  necessary  by  the  apostasy 
of  the  people,  xxxiv.  11-26.  We  may  therefore 
distinguish  three  classes:  (1)  The  general  ethi- 
cal law  of  the  ten  commandments  ;  (2)  the  gene- 
ral legislation  for  the  Jewish  national  theocracy; 
(3)  the  special  regulations  made  necessary  by 
the  alteration  of  the  covenant,  in  which  connec- 
tion it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  the  covenant 
is  here  defined  as  a  covenant  which  Jehovah 
has  made  with  Moses  and  with  Israel;  more 
positively  than  before,  therefore,  is  the  covenant 
now  made  dependent  on  the  mediation  of  Moses. 
The  stay  of  forty  days  and  nights  on  the  moun- 
tain is  then  only  briefly  mentioned.  Observe, 
first,  the  sacred  number  of  forty  days,  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  first  forty  days  (xxiv.  18);  next,  the 
circumstance  that  closes  neither  ate  nor  drank, 
one  that  recurs  in  the  sacred  history  of  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament  (1  Kings  xix.  8;  Matt, 
iv.),  and  is  to  be  conceived  as  indicating  a  total 
self-forgetfulness  as  regards  the  ordinary  need 
of  nourishment  {vid.  Comm.  on  Matthew,  ch.  iv.); 
finally,  the  specific  statement  that  Moses  again 
wrote  the  ten  commandments  on  the  tables — 
which,  literally  taken,  may  be  understood  as 
different  from  the  first  account  of  the  writing, 
but,  according  to  the  spirit,  as  a  supplementary 
interpretation  of  the  first  report.  Keil  makes 
"Jehovah"  the  subject  of  "he  wrote"  [in  ver. 
28],  referring  to  ver.  1. 

When  Moses  now  came  down  from  the  moun- 
tain, his  face   shone,   or  beamed,   without  hia 


148 


knowing  it.  A  strongly  materialistic  conception 
(such  as  Keil's)  may  regard  Ibis  as  a  reflection 
of  the  outward  splendor  of  the  glory  that  had 
appeared  to  him  ;  but  his  face  was  covered  by 
God's  hand.  Doubtless  the  resplendence  is  a 
reflection  of  the  divine  splendor,  produced 
through  the  agency  of  the  soul,  this  splendor, 
together  with  the  law,  having  passed  through 
his  soul,  fille*  it.  aud  put  it  into  au  elevated 
mood.  Thus  Christ  in  a  higher  sense  came  with 
divine  power  from  the  mount  of  beatitudes 
(Matt.  viii.  1  sqq.);  so,  in  some  degree  at  least, 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  ought  to  come  down 
from  their  pulpit  eminence ;  but  how  far  they 
fall  short  of  it  in  many  cases! 

The  great  difference  between  the  lofty  stand- 
point of  the  Law-giver  and  that  of  the  people  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  becomes  evident  in  the 
fact  that  not  only  the  common  Israelites  are  ter- 
rified by  the  splendor,  and  fear  to  approach 
liim,  but  even  Aaron  also;  and  that  Moses  is 
obliged  to  encourage  him  and  the  rulers  of  the 
congregation  to  come  near  to  talk  with  him,  and 
in  this  w.ay  to  inspire  the  people  also  with  cou- 
rage to  approach  in  order  to  hear  Jehovah's 
precepts. 

After  giving  the  message  Moses  puts  a  veil 
on  his  face,  in  order  to  make  it  possible  to  hold 
familiar  intercourse  with  the  people.  This  con- 
tinued for  a  period  of  time  not  definitely  stated  ; 


when  Moses  entered  the  provisional  tabernacle 
and  came  out  again  to  proclaim  Jehovah's  direc- 
tions, he  uncovered  his  face,  but  afterwards  he 
veiled  it  again.  This,  too,  serves  as  a  type  for 
those  who  hold  ofiiee  in  the  New  Testament 
Church.  Christian  people  should  not  be  fright- 
ened away  by  the  splendor  of  the  priest  or 
preacher,  .and  a  separation  thus  effected  between 
the  officials  and  the  congregation. 

This  narrative,  however,  became  a  symbol  of 
two  things:  first,  of  the  glory  of  the  Mosaic  law 
and  covenant  (2  Cor.  iii.  7  sqq.);  secondly,  of 
the  predominantly  slavish  fear  of  the  people, 
which  makes  them  unable,  in  the  exercise  of  an 
enthusiastic  devotion,  to  understand  Moses' 
mood  and  to  get  a  view  of  the  spiritual  nature 
of  his  law.  The  veil  remains  even  to-day,  as  in 
Paul's  time,  on  the  face  of  Jews  proper,  and,  in 
a  degree,  of  Judaizing  Christians — even  on  the 
face  of  those  who  imagine  that  they  are  far  be- 
yond the  spirit  of  this  law.  In  Moses'  case  we 
cannot,  with  Keil,  call  it  "a  symbol  of  the  veil- 
ing of  the  saving  truths  revealed  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament," for  Moses  always  took  the  covering 
away,  after  he  had  spoken  to  the  people;  but  it 
is  a  symbol  of  the  great  distance  between  the 
Old  Testament  revelation  and  the  popular  Juda- 
ism— between  two  things  which  modern  theology 
loves  to  identify.  Knobel  here  records  again 
several  contradictions. 


FOURTH  DIVISION. 


THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  TABERNACLE.  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  REDEEMER  AND  LAW- 
GIVER, THE  RESIDENCE  OF  THE  KING  OF  ISRAEL;  OR  THE  ERECTION  OF  THE 
TENT  OF  MEETING. 

Chaptebs  XXXV.— XL. 


FIRST  SECTION. 

Summons  to  Build  and  to  Furnish  Voluntarily  the  Building  Materials. 
Chap.  XXXV.  1-19. 
And  Moses  gathered  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  together,  and 
said  unto  them,  These  are  the  words  which  Jehovah   hath   commanded,  that  ye 

2  should  do  them.     Six  days  shall  work  be  done,  but  on  the  seventh  day  there  shall 
be  to  you  an  [a]  holy  day,  a  sabbath  of  rest  to  Jehovah :  whosoever  doeth  work 

3  therein  shall  be  put  to  death.     Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout  your  habitations 
[in  auy  of  your  dwellings]  upon  the  sabbath  day. 

4  Anti  Moses  spake  unto  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel,  saying, 

5  This  Vi  the  thing  which  Jehovah  commanded,  saying,  Take  ye  from  among  you  an 
offering  unto  [for]  Jehovah :  whosoever  is  of  a  willing  heart,  let  him  bring  it.  an 

6  offering  of  the  Lord  [Jehovah's  offering]  ;  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  And  blue, 

7  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen,  and  goats'  hair.  And  rams'  skins  dyed  red, 

8  and  badgers'  [.seals']  skins,  and  shittim  [acacia]  wood.  And  oil  for  the  light,  and 

9  spices  for  [for  the]  anointing  oil, and  for  the  sweet  incense,  Aud  onyx  stones, and  stones 
10  to  be  set,  for  the  ephod,  and  for  the  breast-plate.     And  every  wise-hearted  [wise- 
hearted  man]  among  you  shall  come,  and  make  all  that  Jehovah  hath  commanded ; 


CHAP.  XXXV.  20-29. 


11  The  tabernacle,  his  [its]  tent,  and  his  [its]  covering,  his  taehes  [its  clasps],  and  his 

12  [its]  boards,  his  [its]  bars,  his  [its]  pillars,  and  his  [its]  sockets,  The  ark,  and  the 
staves  thereof,  with  [thereof,]  the  mercy-seat,  and  the  veil  of  the  covering  [screen], 

13  The  table,  and  his  [its]  staves,  and  all  his   [its]  vessels,  and  the   shew-bread, 

14  The  candlestick  also  for  the  light,  and  his  [its]  furniture,  and  his  [its]  lamps,  with 

15  [and]  the  oil  for  the  light.  And  the  incense  altar,  and  his  [its]  staves,  and  the 
anointing  oil,  and  the  sweet  incense,  and  the  hanging  [screen]  for  the  door,  at  the 

16  entering  in  [door]  of  the  tabernacle.  The  altar  of  burnt-ofiering,  with  his  [its] 
brazen  grate  [grating],  his  [its]  staves,  and  all  his   [its]   vessels  [furniture],  the 

17  laver,  and  his  foot  [its  base].  The  hangings  of  the  court,  his  [its]  pillars,  and  their 

1 8  sockets,  and  the  hanging  [screen]  for  the  door  of  the  court.  The  pins  of  the  taber- 

19  nacle,  and  the  pins  of  the  court,  and  their  cords,  The  cloths  [garments]  of  service, 
to  do  service  [for  ministering]  in  the  holy  place,  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron  the 
priest,  and  the  garments  of  his  sons,  to  minister  in  the  priest's  office  [to  serve  as 
priests]. 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
In  general  we  refer,  as  other  commentaries  do, 
to  the  previous  directions  concerning  the  taberna- 
cle, xxT.-xxxi.,  the  execution  of  which  is  treated 
of  here.  The  execution  is  the  practical  proof  that 
the  covenant-relation  has  been  restored,  with 
the  afore-mentioned  modifications  designed  for 
a,  religion  of  the  covenant  in  process  of  forma- 


Ver.  2.  The  repetition  of  the  precept  concern- 
ing the  Sabbath  is  interpreted  by  Knobel  and 
Keil  as  having  for  its  object  to  apply  the  law  of 
the  Sabbath  to  the  time  of  the  building  of  the 
tabernacle.      But  though   this   object   may   be 


included,  yet  a  more  general  object  is  to  be 
inferred  from  the  circumstance  that  the  Sabbath 
law  concludes  the  command  concerning  the 
building  (xxxi.  12  sqq.),  as  well  as  here  opens 
the  summons  to  carry  out  the  command.  The 
Sabbath,  or  the  holy  time,  is  the  prerequisite 
of  worship,  or  the  coming  together  in  the  holy 
place.  The  addition,  prohibiting  the  kindling 
of  fire,  indicates  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  is 
made  more  rigorous  in  the  matter  of  abstinence. 

Vers.  5-9.  Summons  to  take  the  voluntary 
contributions,  vid.  xxv.  2-7. 

Vers.  10-19.  Invitation  to  men  of  artistic 
talent  to  render  voluntary  assistance  on  the 
building ;  and  specification  of  their  duties,  vid. 
XX.V.  8;  xxxi.  6-11. 


SECOND  SECTION. 

The  Voluntary  Consecratory  Gifts,  or  the  Holy  Tributes  for  the  Building. 
Chapter  XXXV.  20-29. 

20  And  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  departed  from  the  presence 

21  of  Moses.  And  they  came,  every  one  whose  heart  stirred  him  up,  and  every  one 
whom  his  spirit  made  willing,  and  they  brought  Jehovah's  offerinj;  to  [for]  the 
workof  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [teutof  meeting],  and  for  all  his  [its]  ser- 

22  vice,  and  for  the  holy  garments.  And  they  came,  both  men  and  women  [the  men  with 
the  women],  as  many  as  were  willing-hearted,  and  brought  bracelets  [hooks],  and  ear- 
rings, and  rings  [signet-rings],  and  tablets  [necklaces],  all  jewels  of  gold  [all  kinds 
of  golden  things]  :  and  every  man  that  offered  offered  an  [that  offered  an]  offering  of 

23  gold  unto  Jehovah.  And  every  man,  with  whom  was  found  blue,  and  purple,  and  scar- 
let, and  fine  linen,  and  goats'  hair,  and  red  skins  of  rams  [rams'  skins  dyed  red], 

24  and  badgers'  [seals']  skins,  brought  them.  Every  one  that  did  offer  an  offering  of 
silver  and  brass  [copper]  brought  Jehovah's  offering :  and  every  man,  with  whom 

25  was  found  shittim  [acacia]  wood  for  any  work  of  the  service,  brought  it.  And  all 
the  women  that  were  wise-hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands,  and  brought  that 
which  they  had  spun,  both  of  [spun,  the]  blue,  and  of  purple,  and  of  scarlet,  and  of 

26  [and  the  purple,  the  scarlet,  and  the]  fine  linen.     And  all  the  women  whose  heart 

27  stirred  them  up  in  wisdom  spun  [spun  the]  goats'  hair.  And  the  rulers  brought 
onyx  [the  onyx]  stones,  and  stones  to  be  set,  for  the  ephod,  and  for  the  breast-plate ; 


150 


28  And  spice  [the  spice],  aud  oil  [the  oil ;]  for  the  light,  and  for  the  anointing  oil,  and 

29  for  the  sweet  incense.  The  children  of  Israel  brought  a  willing  oflering  unto 
Jehovah,  every  man  and  woman,  whose  heart  made  them  willing  to  bring  for  all 
manner  of  [all  the]  work,  which  Jehovah  had  commanded  to  be  made  by  the  hand 
of  Moses. 


EXEGETICAL   AND  CRITICAL. 

Ver.  20  sqq.  A  cliarming  passage,  illumined 
by  the  clear  ligbt  of  epontaneiiy,  gladsomeness 
and  joy ;  an  appearance  of  New  Testament  fea- 
tures in  the  Old  Testament.  At  the  same  time 
there  is  involved  a  tine  contrast  between  Moses* 
animated  summons,  issued  at  God's  command, 
together  with  the  gliid  willingness  of  the  people 
to  build  a  true  sanctifying  sanctuary,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  people's  cowardly  and  false-hearted 
summons,  extorted  by  the  sensuous  passions  of 
the  multitude,  and  followed  by  the  tumultuous 
readiness  to  make  offerings  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  equivocal,  barbarizing  system  of 
worship,  on  the  other. 

Ver.  22.  The  men  -with  the  -OT-omen 
[Lange:  to  the  women]. — Keil,  referring  to 
hil-  as  used  in  Gen.  xxxii.  12  (H),  would  read: 
"the  men  together  with  the  children."  But  it 
is  probably  meant  here  that  the  women  antici- 
pated the  men,  as  in  such  religious  movements 
is  often  the  case.  In  the  passage  in  Genesis, 
moreover,  there  is  probably  an  intimation  that 
the  enemy  first  attaclis  the  children,  then  the 
mother,   who   is   defending  the   children;   this 


was  suggested  in  our  Commentary  on  Genesis, 
though  the  rendering  "together  with"  is  re- 
tained. 

Ver.  2.3.  Every  man  with  whom  was 
found. — At  first  ornaments  for  the  body  are 
offered;  then,  possessions  and  treasures;  after- 
wards, the  products  of  female  labor ;  finally  also, 
princely  jewels.  "  According  to  the  Talmudists 
and  Rabbins,  followed  by  Braun  (  Veslilus  sacer- 
dolum,  p.  92),  Bahr  (Si/mbolik  I.,  p.  26.5),  and 
others,  the  purple  and  crimson  cloths  were  of 
wool,  the  'dd  (byssus)  of  linen.  But  if  so,  the 
costume  of  the  high-priest  must  have  consisted 
of  a  diversity  of  materials,  which  conflicts  with 
Lev.  xix.  19;  Deut.  xxii.  11,  and  also  Ezek.xliv. 
17  sq.,  where  wool  is  forbidden  to  be  used  in 
sacerdotal  garments  (vid.  Gen.  xli.  42:  xlvi. 
34).  It  is  therefore  safer  to  suppose  that  all 
the  four  kinds  of  material  were  flaxen  yarn,  the 
first  three  colored,  the  last  bleached  and  white" 
(Knobel).  But  it  is  to  be  observed  in  reference 
to  this,  that  the  garments  of  the  high-priest  did 
not  consist  of  a  single  article,  and  that  the  pre- 
cept in  Ezekiel  relates  to  the  symbolic  aspects 
of  a  new,  ideal  sanctuary.* 


fBnt  tlie  epho"!  was  a  sinffle  thinp.  and  according  to  Ex. 
viii.  6  it  wa3  made  out  of  all  four  of  these  materials.  The 
ae  is  true  of  the  breast-plate  (ver.  16).— Te.]. 


THIRD    SECTION. 

Bezaleel  and  his  Assistants  Introduced  to  the  People  to  Receive  the  Consecrated 
Materials  for  the  Building. 

Chapter  XXXV.  30— XXXVI.  7. 

30  And  Moses  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  See,  Jehovah  hath  called  by  name 

31  Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  ;  And  he  hath  fillpd 
him  with  the  spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  in  understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in 

32  all  manner  [kinds]  of  workmanship  ;  And  to  devise  curious  works  [skilful  designs], 

33  to  work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass  [copper].  And  in  the  cutting  of  stones, 
to  set  them  [stones  for  setting  1,  and  in  carving  of  wood,  to  make  any  manner  of  cun- 

34  ning  work  [to  work  in  all  kinds  of  skilful  work].  And  he  hath  put  in  his  heart 
that  he  may  teach,  60^/1  he  [to  teach,  in  him],  and  Aholiab,  the  son  of  Ahisamach, 

35  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  Them  hath  he  filled  with  wisdom  of  heart,  to  work  all  manner 
[to  do  all  kinds]  of  work,  of  the  engraver,  and  of  the  cunning  workman  [skilful 
weaver],  and  of  the  embroiderer,  in  blue,  and  in  purple,  in  scarlet,  and  in  fine  li- 
nen, and  of  the  weaver,  even  of  them  that  do  any  work,  and  of  those  that  devise  cun- 
ning work  [skilful  designs]. 

Chap.  XXXVI.  1  Then  wrought  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  [And  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab 
shall  work],  and  every  wise-hearted  man,  in  whom  Jehovah  put  [hath  put]  wisdom  and 
understanding  to  know  how  to  work  all  manner  of  work  for  [do  all  the  work  of]  the 


CHAP.  ssxv.  30— xx::vi. 


2  service  of  the  sanctuary,  according  to  all  that  Jehovah  had  [hath]  commanded.  And 
Moses  called  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab,  and  every  wise-hearted  man,  in  whose  heart 
Jehovah  had  put  wisdom,  even  every  one  whose  heart  stirred  him  up  to  come  unto 

3  the  work  to  do  it ;  And  they  received  of  [from]  Moses  all  the  offering,  which  the 
children  of  Israel  had  brought  for  the  work  of  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  to  make 
it  withal.     And  they  brought   yet   [besides]    unto   him   free   [free-will]   offerings 

4  every  morning.    And  all  the  wise  men,  tliat  wrought  all  the  work  of  the  sanctuary, 

5  came  every  man  from  his  work  which  they  made  [were  doing]  ;  And  they  spake 
uuto  Moses  saying.  The  people  bring  much  more  [are  bringing  too  much — more] 
than  enough  for  the  service  of  the  work,  which  Jehovah  commanded  to  make  [to 

6  be  done].  And  Moses  gave  commandment,  and  they  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  camp,  saying.  Let  neither  man  nor  woman  make  any  more  work  for 

7  the  offering  of  the  sanctuary.  So  the  people  were  restrained  from  bringiucr.  For 
the  stuff  they  had  was  sufficient  for  all  the  work  to  make  [do]  it,  and  too  much  [and 
there  was  left  over]. 

wenver  who  work3  together  the  dififerent  colors 


EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
Vers.  30sqq.  This  is  not  merely  a  disclosure 
respecting  the  future.  The  slsilled  workmen 
under  the  master  workman  Bezaleel  are  intro- 
duced to  the  people  as  those  who,  in  Moses'  pre- 
sence, are  to  receive  the  otferings  which  have  al- 
ready been  presented,  and  to  judge  of  the  propor- 
tion of  them  to  the  need.  Two  principal  classes 
of  workmen  are  named.  The  t^Tl  [smith]  in- 
cludes at  least  three  different  occupations,  ac- 
cording as  the  work  is  in  metal,  stone,  or  wood. 
The  weavers  are   of   three  classes:   the  skilled 


□  plj;  and  the  plain  weaver  (J^.**)- 

Chap,  xxxvi.  5.  And  they  spake  unto 
Moses. — On  all  sides  there  is  a  superfluiiy  of 
building  material,  so  that  Jloses  has  occasion 
to  cause  a  proclamation  to  be  made  in  the  camp, 
asking  the  contributions  to  be  suspended.  A 
rare  instance  in  the  history  of  collections,  though 
also  mediiev.'xl  and  evangelical  institutions  have 
often  attained  an  excess  gf  prosperity.  Knobel 
remarks  on  this  point:  "The  Elohist  has  a  more 
favorable  opinion  of  Israel  in  Moses'  time  thaa 
the  later  narrator  has."  But  his  archieological 
knowledge  ought  surely  to  have  presented  him 
I  here  too  with  examples  of  how  a  nation  in  great 
workman,   who   inweaves   figures   {-l"i?n^;     the  1  crises  is  lifted  above  its  ordinary  level. 


FOURTH   SECTION. 


The  Work  of  the  Building  and  the  Priests'  Ornaments.     The  Elements  of  the  Typi- 
cal Sacred  Structure. 

Ch.^pters  XXXVI.  8— XXXIX.  31. 

A.— THE  CURTAINS  OF  THE  TENT  AND  THE  COVERINGS. 

Vers.  8-19. 

8  And  every  wise-hearted  man  among  them  that  wrought  the  work  of  the  taber- 
nacle made  ten  [work  made  the  tabernacle  with  ten]  curtains  o/ [curtains :  o/]  fine- 
twined  linen,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  with  cherubims   [cherubim]  of 

9  cunning  work  [the  work  of  the  skilful  weaver]  made  he  them.  The  length  of  one 
[each]  curtain  was  twenty  and  eight  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  one  [each]  curtain 

10  four  cubits  ;  the  curtains  were  all  of  one  size  [had  all  one  measure].  And  he  cou- 
pled the  five  curtains  one  unto  another :  and  the  otJier  five  curtains  he  coupled  one 

11  unto  another.  Aud  he  made  loops  of  blue  on  the  edge  of  one  [the  one]  curtain 
from  the  selvedge  in  the  coupling  [at  the  border  in  the  first  set] :  likewise  he  made 
in  the  uttermost  side  of  another  curtain,  in  the  coupling  of  the  second  [the  same 

12  made  he  at  the  edge  of  the  outmost  curtain  in  the  second  set].  Fifty  loops  made 
he  in  one  [the  one]  curtain,  aud  fifty  loops  made  he  in  the  edge  of  the  curtain  which 
ivas  in  the  coupling  of  the  second  [which  was  in  the  second  set]  :  the  loops  held  one 

13  curtain  to  another  [were  opposite  one  to  another].  And  he  made  fifty  taches 
[clasps]  of  gold,  and  coupled  the  curtains  one  unto  another  with  the  taches  [clasps]  : 
so  it  became  one  tabernacle  [and  the  tabernacle  became  one]. 


14, 15  Aud  he  made  curtains  of  goats'  hair  for  the  [a]  tent  over  the  tabernacle;  ele- 
ven curtains  he  made  them.  The  length  of  one  [each]  curtain  ivas  thirty  cubits, 
and  four  cubits  tvas  the  breadth  of  one  [each]  curtain :  the  eleven  curtains  ivere  of 

16  one  size  [had  one  measure].     And  he  coupled  five  curtains  by  themselves,  and  six 

17  curtains  by  themselves.  And  he  made  fifty  loops  upon  the  uttermost  edge  of  the 
curtain  in  the  coupling  [upon  the  edge  of  the  outermost  curtain  in  the  o»esct],  and 
fifty  loops  made  he  upon  the  edge  of  the  curtain  which  coupleth  the  second  [cur- 

18  tain,  the  second  set].     And  he  made  fifty  taches  [clasps]  o/ brass  [copper]  to  couple 

19  the  tent  together,  that  it  might  be  one.  And  he  made  a  covering  tor  the  tent  of 
rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  a  covering  of  badgers'  skins  above  that  [seals'  skins 
above]. 

B.— THE  FRAME-WORK  OF  THE  TENT. 
Vers.   20-34. 

20  And  he  made  boards  [the  boards]  for  the  tabernacle  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood, 

21  standing  up.     The  length  of  a  board  ira*'  ten  cubits,  and  the  breadth  of  a  [each] 

22  board  one  cubit  and  a  half.     One  [each]  board  had  two  tenons,  equally  distaut  one 

23  from  another :  thus  did  he  make  for  all  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle.  And  he  made 
boards  [the  boards]  for  the  tabernacle  ;  twenty  boards  for  the  south  side  southward : 

24  And  forty  sockets  of  silver  he  made  under  the  twenty  boards ;  two  sockets  under 
one  board  for  his  [its]  two  tenon.s,  and  two  sockets  under  another  board  for  his  [its] 

25  two  tenons.     And  for  the  other  side  of  the  tabernacle  which  is  toward  the  north 

26  corner  [tabernacle,  the  north  side],  he  made  twenty  boards,  Aud  their  forty  sockets 

27  of  silver  ;  two  sockets  under  one  board,  and  two  sockets  under  another  board.    And 

28  for  the  sides  [rear]  of  the  tabernacle  westward  he  made  six  boards.    And  two  boards 

29  made  he  for  the  corners  of  the  tabernacle  in  the  two  sides  [the  rear].  And  they  were 
coupled  beneath,  and  coupled  together  at  the  head  thereof,  to  one  ring  [double  be- 
neath, and  they  were  together  whole  up  to  the  top  of  it,  unto  the  first  ring]  :  thus 

30  he  did  to  both  of  them  in  [at]  both  the  corners.  And  there  were  eight  boards  ; 
and  their  sockets  were  sixteen  sockets  of  silver  [sockets  of  silver,  sixteen  sockets], 

31  under  every  board  two  sockets.     And  he  made  bars  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood ;  five 

32  for  the  boards  of  the  one  side  of  the  tabernacle,  And  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the 
other  side  of  the  tabernacle,  and  five  bars  for  the  boards  of  the  tabernacle  for  the 

33  sides  [rear]  westward.     And  he  made  the  middle  bar  to  shoot  through  [pass  along 

34  at  the  middle  of]  the  boards  from  the  one  end  to  the  other.  And  he  overlaid  the 
boards  with  gold,  and  made  their  rings  of  gold  to  be  [for]  places  for  the  bars,  and 
overlaid  the  bars  with  gold. 

C— THE  VEIL  AND  THE  SCREEN. 
Vers.   35-38. 

35  And  he  made  a  [the]  veil  of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine-twined  linen: 
with  cherubims  made  he  it  of  cunning  work  [cherubim,  the  work  of  a  skilful  weaver 

36  made  he  it].  And  he  made  thereunto  [for  it]  four  pillars  of  shittim  [acacia]  ivood, 
and  overlaid  them  with  gold  :  their  hooks  were  o/gold  ;  and  he  cast  for  them  four 

37  sockets  of  silver.  And  he  made  an  hanging  [a  screen]  for  the  tabernacle  door 
[door  of  the  tent]  of  blue,  and  purple,  aud  .'^carlet,  aud  fine-twined  linen,  of  needle- 

38  work  [linen,  embroidered  work]  :  Aud  the  five  pillars  of  it  with  their  hooks  :  and 
he  overlaid  their  chapiters  [capitals]  and  their  fillets  [rods]  with  gold  ;  but  [and] 
their  five  sockets  were  of  brass. 

D.— THE  ARK  AND  THE  MERCT-SEAT,*  AND  THE  CHERUBIM. 
Chap.  XXXVII.  1-9. 
1       And  Bezaleel  made  the  ark  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood :  two  cubits  and  a  half  was 
the  length  of  it,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  breadth  of  it,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the 


•  [Lango  renders  71133  "lid  of  expiation,"  and  remarks  that  the  term  " is  as  difflonlt  to  translate  with  one  word  as 
is  the  name  nin*-"  Lntlicr's  rendering,  Gnadensfuld  ("  mercy-seat "),  he  commends  as  conveying  substantially  the  right 
impret-sinn.    Uut  it  is  quoBtionable  whether  one  can  properly  combine  the  literal  and  the  topical  in  a  translation,  as  Lange 


CHAP.  XXXVr.  8— XXXIX.  31.  153 

2  height  of  it :  And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold  within  and   without,  and  made  a 

3  crown  [rim]  of  gold  to  [for]  it  round  about.  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold, 
to  he  set  by  [gold,  on]  the  four  corners  of  it  [its  four  feet] ;  even  two  rings  upon  the 

4  one  side  of  it,  and  two  rings  upon  the  other  side  of  it.     And  he  made  staves  o/  shit- 

5  tim  [acacia]  w^od,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold.     And  he  put  the  staves  into  the 

6  rings  by  [on]  the  sides  of  the  ark,  to  bear  the  ark.  And  he  made  the  [a]  mercy- 
seat  q/"  pure  gold:  two  cubits  and  a  half  tticw  the  length  thereof,  and  one  cubit  and 

7  a  half  the  breadth  thereof.  And  he  made  two  cherubims  [cherubim]  o/gold,  beaten 
out  of  one  piece  [of  beaten  work]  made  he  them,  on  [at]  the  two  ends  of  the  mercy- 

8  seat.  One  cherub  on  the  end  on  this  side  [at  the  one  end],  and  another  [one]  che- 
rub on  the  other  end  on  that  side  [at  the  other  end]:  out  of  [of  one  piece  with]  the 

9  mercy-seat  made  he  the  cherubims  on  [at]  the  two  ends  thereof.  And  the  cheru- 
bims [cherubim]  spread  out  their  wings  on  high  [upwards],  and  covered  [covering] 
with  their  wings  over  [wings]  the  mercy-seat,  with  their  faces  one  to  [towards]  ano- 
ther: even  to  the  mercy-seatward  [towards  the  mercy-seat]  were  the  faces  of  the  che- 
rubims [cherubim]. 

E.— THE  TABLE  AND  ITS  VESSELS. 
Vers.  10-16. 

10  And  he  made  the  table  o/shittim  [acacia]  wood  :  two  cubits  was  the  length  thereof, 

11  and  a  cubit  the  breadth  thereof,  and  a  cubit  and  a  half  the  height  thereof:  And  he 
overlaid  it  with  pure  gold,  and  made  thereunto  a  crown  [for  it  a  rim]  of  gold  round 

12  about.  Also  [And]  he  made  thereunto  [for  it]  a  border  of  an  [a]  handbreadth 
round  about;  and  made  a  crown  [rim]  of  gold  for  the  border  thereof  round  about. 

13  And  he  cast  for  it  four  rings  of  gold,  and  put  the  rings  upon  [in]  the  four  corners 

14  that  %uer6  in  [on]  the  four  feet  thereof.     Over  against  [Close  by]  the  border  were  the 

15  rings,  the  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  the  table.     And  he  made  the  staves  o/shit- 

16  tim  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold,  to  bear  the  table.  And  he  made 
the  vessels  which  were  upon  the  table,  his  dishes  [its  plates],  and  his  spoons  [its  cups], 
and  his  [its]  bowls,  and  his  covers  to  cover  withal  [its  flagons  to  pour  out  with],  of 
pure  gold. 

P.— THE  CANDLESTICK  AND  THE  UTENSILS  BELONGING  TO  IT. 
Vees.  17-24. 

17  And  he  made  the  candlestick  of  pure  gold :  of  beaten  work  made  he  the  candle- 
stick ;  his  shaft,  and  his  branch,  his  bowls,  his  knops,  and  his  flowers,  were  of  the 
same  [the  candlestick,  its  base,  and  its  shaft :  its  cups,  its  knobs,  and  its  flowers  were 

18  of  one  piece  with  it]  :  And  six  branches  going  out  of  the  sides  thereof;  three 
branches  of  the  candlestick  out  of  the  one  side  thereof,  and  three  branches  of  the 

19  candlestick  out  of  the  other  side  thereof:  Three  bowls  made  after  the  fashion  of 
almonds  in  [Three  cups  made  like  almond-blo.ssoms  on]  one  branch,  a  knop 
[knob]  and  a  flower ;  and  three  bowls  made  like  almonds  in  [almond-blossoms  on] 
another  branch,  a  knop  [knob]  and  a  flower :  so  throughout  [for]  the  six  branches 

20  going  out  of  the  candlestick.  And  in  [on]  the  candlestick  were  four  bowls  [cups] 
made  like  almonds  [almond-blossoms],  his  knops  [its  knobs],  and  his  [its]  flowers: 

21  And  a  knop  [knob]  under  two  branches  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  and  a 
knop  [knob]  under  two  branches  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  and  a  knop 
[knob]  under  two  branches  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  according  to  [for] 

22  the  six  branches  going  [that  go]  out  of  it.  Their  knops  [knobs]  and  their  branches 
were  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it]  :  all  of  it  %cas  one  beaten  work  of  pure  gold. 

2.3  And  he  made  his  [its]  seven  lamps,  and  his  [its]  snuSers,  and  his  [its]  snuff-dishes, 

24  of  pure  gold.     Of  a  talent  of  pure  gold  made  he  it,  and  all  the  vessels  thereof. 

G.— THE  ALTAR  OF  INCENSE  AND  ITS  APPURTENANCES. 

Vers.  25-29. 

25  And  he  made  the  incense  altar  [altar  of  incense]  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood  :  the 
length  of  it  ivas  a  cubit,  and  the  breadth  of  it  a  cubit ;  it  was  foursquare ;  and  two 
cubits  was  the  height  of  it ;  the  horns  thereof  were  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with 

26  it].     And  he  overlaid  it  with  pure  gold,  both  [gold,]  the  top  of  it,  and  the  sides 


EXODUS. 


thereof  round  about,  and  the  horns  of  it:  also  he  made  unto  [for]  it  a  crown  [rim] 

27  of  gold  round  about.  And  he  made  two  rings  of  gold  for  it  under  the  crown  [rim] 
thereof,  by  the  two  corners  [on  the  two  flanks]  of  it,  upon  the  two  sides  thereof,  to 

28  be  [for]  places  for  the  staves  to  bear  it  withal.     And  he  made  the  staves  o/shittira 

29  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  gold.  And  he  made  the  holy  anointing  oil, 
and  the  pure  incense  of  sweet  spices,  according  to  the  work  of  the  apothecary  [spices, 
the  work  of  the  perfumer]. 

H.— THE  ALTAR  OF  BURNT-OFFEPvING  WITH  ITS  UTENSILS,  AND  THE  LAYER. 
Chap.  XXXVIII.  1-8. 

1  And  he  made  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood :  five  cubits  was 
the  length  thereof,  and  five  cubits  the  breadth  thereof;  ii  was  foursquare;  and  three 

2  cubits  the  height  thereof  And  he  made  the  horns  thereof  on  the  four  corners  of 
it ;  the  horns  thereof  were  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it] :  and  he  overlaid  it  with 

3  brass  [copper].  And  he  made  all  the  vessels  of  the  altar,  the  pots,  and  the  shovels, 
and  the  basins,  and  the  fleshhooks,  and  the  fire-pans :  all  the  vessels  thereof  made 

4  he  of  brass  [copper].  And  he  made  for  the  altar  a  brazen  grate  of  network  [a 
grating  of  network  of  copper]  under  the  compass  [ledge]  thereof  beneath  unto  tha 

5  midst  of  it  [reaching  to  the  middle  of  it].  And  he  cast  four  rings  for  the  four  euds 
[corners]  of  the  grate  of  brass  [copper  grating],  to  be  [for]  places  for  the  staves. 

6  And  he  made  the  staves  of  shittim  [acacia]  wood,  and  overlaid  them  with  brass 

7  [copper].     And  he  put  the  staves  into  the  rings  on  the  sides  of  the  altar,  to  bear  it 

8  withal ;  he  made  the  altar  [made  it]  hollow  with  boards.  And  he  made  the  laver 
of  brass  [copper],  and  the  foot  [base]  of  it  of  brass  [copper],  of  the  looking-glasses 
of  the  women  assembling,  which  assembled  [the  serving  women,  who  served]  at  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting]. 

I.— THE  COURT. 
Vers.  9-20. 

9  And  he  made  the  court :  on  [for]  the  south  side  southward  the  hangings  of  the 

10  court  %vere  of  fine-twined  linen,  an  [a]  hundred  cubits :  Their  pillars  ivere  twenty, 
and  their  brazen  [copper]  sockets  twenty;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets 

11  [rods]  were  o/ silver.  And  for  the  north  side  the  hangings  were  an  [side  a]  hundred 
cubits,  their  pillars  were  twenty,  and  their  sockets  of  brass  [copper]  twenty ;  the 

12  hooks  of  the  pillars  and  their  fillets  [rods]  of  silver.  And  for  the  west  side  were 
hangings  of  fifty  cubits,  their  pillars  ten,  and  their  sockets  ten ;  the  hooks  of  the 

13  pillars  and  their  fillets  [rods]  o/ silver.     And  for  the  east  side  eastward  fifty  cubits. 

14  The  hangings  for  the  one  side  of  the  gate  were  fifteeu  cubits ;  their  pillars  three,  and 

15  their  sockets  three.  And  for  the  other  side  of  the  court  gate,  on  this  hand  and 
that  hand  [So  for  the  other  side;  on  this  hand,  and  on  that  hand,  by  the  gate  of 
the  court],  were  hangings  of  fifteen  cubits ;  their  pillars  three,  and  their  sockets 

16  three.     All   the  hangings  of  the  court  round  about  were  of  fine-twined   linen. 

17  And  the  sockets  for  the  pillars  were  o/ brass  [copper]  ;  the  hooks  of  the  pillars  and 
their  fillets  [rods]  of  silver;  and  the  overlaying  of  their  chapiters  [capitals]  of  silver  ; 

18  and  all  the  pillars  of  the  court  were  filleted  with  [joined  with  rods  of]  silver.  And 
the  hanging  [screen]  for  the  gate  of  the  court  ^vas  needlework  [embroidered  work], 
of  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine-twined  linen :  and  twenty  cubits  was  the 
length,  and  the  height  in  the  breadth  was  five  cubits,  answerable  [corresponding] 

19  to  the  hangings  of  the  court.  And  their  pillars  were  four,  and  their  sockets  of  brass 
[copper]  four;  their  hooks  o/ silver,  and  the  overlaying  of  their  chapiters  [capitals] 

20  and  their  fillets  [rods]  of  silver.  And  all  the  pins  of  the  tabernacle,  and  of  the 
court  round  about,  we?-e  of  brass  [copper]. 

J.— AMOUNT  OF  THE  METAL  USED. 
Vers.  21-31. 

21  This  is  the  sum  of  [These  are  the  amounts  for]  the  tabernacle,  even  the  tabernacle 
of  [of  the]  testimony,  as  it  was  [they  were]  counted,  according  to  the  commandment 
of  Moses,  for  the  service  of  the  Levites,  by  the  band  of  Ithamar,  sou  to  Aaron  the 


CHAP.  XXXVI.  8— XXXIX.  31,  155 


22  priest.     And  Bezaleel  the  son  of  Uri,  the  son  of  Hur,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  made 

23  all  that  Jehovah  commanded  Moses.  And  with  him  wcr.s  Aholiab,  son  of  Ahisa- 
mach,  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  an  engraver,  and  a  cunning  workman  [a  skilful  weaver], 
and  an  embroiderer  in  blue,  and  in  purple,  and  in  scarlet,  and  fine  linen. 

24  All  the  gold  that  was  occupied  [used]  for  the  work  in  all  the  work  of  the  holy 
jylace  [sanctuary],  even  the  gold  of  the  offering,  was  twenty  and  nine  talents,  and 

25  seven  hundred  and  thirty  shekels,  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanctuary.  And  the  silver 
of  them  that  were  numbered  of  the  congregation  was  an  [a]  hundred  talents,  and  a 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  threescore  and  fifteen  shekels,  after  the  shekel  of  the 

26  sanctuary :  A  bekah  for  every  man,  that  is,  half  a  shekel,  after  the  shekel  of  the 
sanctuary,  for  every  one  that  went  to  be  [passed  over  to  them  that  were]  numbered, 
from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  for  six  hundred  thousand  and  three  thousaud 

27  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  men.  And  of  the  hundred  talents  of  silver  were  cast 
the  sockets  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  sockets  of  the  veil ;  an  [a]  hundred  sockets  of 

28  [for]  the  hundred  talents, 'a  talent  for  a  socket.  And  of  the  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred seventy  and  five  shekeh  he  made  hooks  for  the  pillars,  and  overlaid  their  chapi- 

29  ters  [capitals],  and  filleted  them  [joined  them  with  rods].  And  the  brass  [copper] 
of  the  ofiering  was  seventy  talents,  and  two  thousand  and  four  hundred  shekels. 

30  And  therewith  he  made  the  sockets  to  [for]  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation [tent  of  meeting],  and  the  brazen  [copper]  altar,  and  the  brazen  grate 

31  [copper  grating]  for  it,  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  altar,  And  the  sockets  of  the  court 
round  about,  and  the  sockets  of  the  court  gate  [gate  of  the  court],  and  all  the  pins 
of  the  tabernacle,  and  all  the  pins  of  the  court  round  about. 

K.— PREPARATION  OF  THE  PRIESTS'  VESTMENT. 
Chap.  XXXIX.  1-31. 

1  And  of  the  blue,  an  purple,  and  scarlet,  they  made  cloths  [garments]  of  service, 
to  do  service  [for  ministering]  in  the  holy  place  and  made  the  holy  garments  for 
Aaron ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

1.   The  Ephod. 

2  And  he  made  the  ephod  of  gold,  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine-twined 

3  linen.  And  they  did  beat  the  gold  into  thin  plates,  and  cut  it  into  wires  [threads], 
to  work  it  in  the  blue,  and  in  the  purple,  and  in  the  scarlet,  and  in  the  fine  linen, 

4  with  cunning  work  [linen,  the  work  of  the  skilful  weaver].  They  made  shoulder- 
pieces  for  it,  to  couple  it  together  [joined  together] :  by  [at]  the  two  edges  was  it 

5  coupled  [joined]  together.  And  the  curious  girdle  of  his  ephod  [the  embroidered 
belt  for  girding  it],  that  was  upon  it,  ivas  of  the  same  [of  one  piece  with  it],  accord- 
ing to  the  work  [like  the  work]  thereof;  o/gold,  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and 

6  fine-twined  linen ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses.  And  they  wrought  onyx  stones 
inclosed  in  ouches  [settings]  of  gold,  graven  as  signets  are  graven  [graven  with  the 

7  engravings  of  a  signet],  with  the  names  of  the  children  of  Israel.  And  he  put  them 
on  the  shoulders  [shoulder-pieces]  of  the  ephod,  that  they  should  be  stones  for  a  me- 
morial to  [ephod,  as  memorial  stones  for]  the  children  of  Israel;  as  Jehovah  com- 
manded Moses. 

i.   The.  Breast-plate. 

8  And  he  made  the  breast-plate  of  cunning  work  [with  the  work  of  the  skilful 
weaver],  like  the  work  of  the  ephod;  of  gold,  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and 

9  fine-twined  linen.  It  was  four-square ;  they  made  the  breast-plate  double : 
a  span  was  the   length  thereof,  and  a  span  the  breadth  thereof,  being  doubled. 

10  And  they  set  in  it  four  rows  of  stones:  the  first  row  ivas  a  sardius,  a  topaz, 
and   a   carbuncle:    this  was   the   first   row:    [stones:   a   row   of  sardius,   topaz, 

11  and   emerald   was  the   first   row].      And  the   second    row,  an   emerald    [a   car- 

12  buncle],  a  sapphire,  and  a  diamond.     And  the   third  row,  a  ligure,  an   agate, 

13  and  an  amethyst.     And  the  fourth  row,  a  beryl  [chrysolite],  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper: 

14  they  were  inclosed  in  ouches  [settings]  of  gold  in  their  inclosings.  And  the  stones 
were  according   to  the   names   of  the   children  of  Israel,   twelve,  according  to 


their  names,  Uhe  tlie  engravings  of  a  signet,  every  one  with  his  name,  according  to 

15  [for]  the  twelve  tribes.     And  they  made  upon  the  breast-plate  chains  at  the  ends 

16  [chains  like  cords]  of  wreathen  work  of  pure  gold.  And  they  made  two  ouches 
[settings]  of  gold,  and  two  gold  rings  [rings  of  gold];  and  put  the  two  rings  in  [on] 

17  the  two  ends  of  the  breast-plate.     And  they  put  the  two  wreathen  chains  of  gold 

18  in  [on]  the  two  rings  on  [at]  the  ends  of  the  breast-plate.  And  the  two  ends  of 
the  two  wreathen  chains  they  fastened  in  [put  on]  the  two  ouches  [settings],  and 

19  put  them  on  the  shoulder-pieces  of  the  ephod,  before  it  [on  the  front  of  it].  And 
they  made  two  rings  of  gold,  and  put  them  on  the  two  ends  of  the  breast-plate,  upon 

20  the  bordrt-  of  it,  which  was  on  [toward]  the  side  of  the  ephod  inward.     And  they 
made  two  other  [two]  golden  rings,  and  put  them  on  the  two  sides  [shoulder-pieces] 
of  the  ephod  underneath,  toward  [on]  the  forepart  of  it,  over  against  [close  by]  the  ■ 
other  [the]  coupling  thereof,  above  the  curious  girdle  [embroidered  belt]  of  the 

21  ephod.  And  they  did  bind  the  breast-plate  by  his  [its]  rings  unto  the  rings  of  the 
ephod  with  a  lace  [cord]  of  blue,  that  it  might  be  abwe  the  curious  girdle  of  [em- 
broidered belt]  the  ephod,  and  that  the  breast-plate  might  not  be  loosed  from  the 
ephod;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

3.  The  Robe. 

22,  23     And  he  made  the  robe  of  the  ephod  of  woven  work,  all  of  blue.     And  there 

teas  an  hole  in  the  midst  of  the  robe,  [And .  the  opening  of  the  robe  in  the  middle 

of  it  was]  as  the  hole  of  an  habergeon  [like  the  opening  of  a  coat  of  mail],  xvith  a 

band  [binding]  round  about  the  hole  [opening],  that  it  should  not  rend  [might  not 

24  be  rent].     And  they  made  upon  the  hems  [skirts]  of  the  robe  pomegranates  of  blue, 

25  and  purple,  aud  scarlet,  and.  twined  linen  [scarlet,  twined].  And  they  made  bells 
of  pure  gold,  and  put  the  bells  between  the  pomegranates  upon  the  hem  [skirts] 

26  of  the  robe,  round  about  between  the  pomegranates ;  A  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a 
bell  and  a  pomegranate,  round  about  the  hem  of  the  robe  [upon  the  skirts  of  the 
robe  round  about],  to  minister  in;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

4.   The  Coat,  Breeches,  and  Girdle. 

27  And  they  made  coats  [the  coats]  of  fine  linen  of  woven  work  for  Aaron  and  for 

28  his  sons.  And  a  mitre  [the  turban]  of  fine  linen,  and  goodly  bonnets   [the  goodly 

29  caps]  of  fine  linea,  and  linen  [the  linen]  breeches  of  fine-twined  linen.  And  a  [the] 
girdle  of  fine-twined  linen,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  o/ needle  work  [scar- 
let, embroidered  work]  ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

5.   The  Plate  of  Gold. 

30  And  thev  made  the  plate  of  the  holy  crown  of  pure  gold,  and  wrote  upon  it  a 

31  writing,  lib'e  to  the  engravings  of  a  signet,  HOLINESS  TO  JEHOVAH.  And 
they  tied  unto  it  a  lace  [cord]  of  blue,  to  fasten  it  on  high  upon  the  mitre  [turban] ; 
as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

vork  of  the  Tent,  vers.  20-34 ; 
EXEGETICAL  AND  CRITICAL. 
a.  The  Curtains  of  the  Tent  and  their  Cover- 
ings. Chap,  xxxvi.  8-19.  Firf.  chap.  xxvi.  1-14. 
Jacobi,  in  his  pamphlet,  Die  Lehre  der  Irvingiten 
(Berlin,  1853),  p.  52sqq.,  has  told  how  the  Ir- 
vingiles  interpret,  in  a  fantastic,  allegorical  way, 
the  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  as  pointing  to 
their  offices;  and,  in  general,  their  arbitrary 
trifling  with  Old  Testament  symbols.  In  a  simi- 
lar way  they  deal  with  the  Apocalypse.  Vid. 
Stocknieyer,  Kurze  Nachricht  iiber  den  Irvinfiin- 
rnus,  p.  13.  Keil  observes  that  the  verbs  T\U'p 
in  ver.  8,  "'StVI  in  ver.  10,  and  tS'^J^  in  ver.  11, 
e'e.,  are  in  the  third  Pers.  Sing,  with  an  indefinite 
snhjcct.  But  this  is  not  borne  out  by  ver.  8, 
where  HtSj;  first  stands  in  the  plural.  It  is  more 
likely  that  the  whole  work  is  called  Bezaleel's. 


C.  The  Veil  and  the  Screen,  vers.  35^38;  vid. 
xxvi.  31-37.  Ver.  38.  Not  the  whole  of  the  pil- 
lars of  the  screen  was  overlaid  with  gold,  hut 
only  the  tips,  and  the  rods  running  across  the  up- 
per ends.  The  other  pillars  of  the  court  only  had 
their  tips  and  cross-rods  overlaid  with  silver. 

d.  The  Ark,  the  Mercy-seat,  the  Cherubim, 
xxxvii.  1-9;  rid.  xxv.  10-22.  It  is  called  the 
master-workman  Bezaleel's  own  work. 

e.  The  Table  of  Shew-bread  and  its  Vessels, 
vers.  10-10 ;  vid.  xxv.  23-30.  In  the  direction  the 
dishes  are  called  n'lj^p,  ^33.  ni»p,  and  nVpJD; 
the  same  here,  except  that  the  order  of  the  last 
two  is  inverted. 


CHAP.  XXXIX.  32-43. 


157 


f.  The  Candlestick  and  the  Utensils  belonging 
to  it,  vers.  17-i:4;   vid.  xxv.  31-40. 

g.  The  Altar  of  Incense  with  itg  Appurte- 
nances, vers.  2o-29;  vid.  xxx.  I-IO.  The  An- 
ointing Oil  and  the  Incense,  xxx.  22-28. 

h.  The  Altar  of  Burnt-ofifering,  with  its  Im- 
plements, and  the  Laver,  xxxviii.  1-8.  On  the 
Altar  vid.  xxvii.  1-8.  On  the  Laver  vid.  xxx. 
17-21.  Knobel's  notion  about  ver.  8  is  very 
strange  [vid.  above,  p.  127].  He  thinks  that  on 
the  base  there  were  fashioned  figures  of  the  wo- 
men who,  as  Levite  women,  came  into  the  court 
to  wash  and  furbish.  [But  Knobel  does  not  re- 
present the  figures  as  on  the  iusc] 

i.   The  Court,  vers.  9-20:   vid.  xxvii.  9-19. 

j.  Summation  of  the  Metal  used,  vers.  21-31. 
"The  estiraatious"  (ver.  21).  Keil,  "The  enu- 
merated things."  The  duty  of  counting  the 
amount  was  committed  to  the  Levites  under  the 
direction  of  Aaron's  son,  Ithamar. 

Ver.  24.  The  Gold.  Thenius  and  Keil  reckon 
it  at  87,730  shekels,  or  877,300  Tkakr.—a.  gold 
shekel  being  estimated  a3  =  10  Thaler  [  =  7  Dol- 
lars and  2i»  cents.  Poole,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dic- 
tionary, makes  it  a  little  more. — Tr.] 

Vers.  2.5-28.  The  Silver.  "Of  the  silver 
there  is  reckoned  only  the  amount  of  the  atone- 
ment money  collected  from  those  who  were 
numbered,  a  half-shekel  to  every  male,  the  vo- 


luntary gifts  of  silver  not  being  mentioned" 
(Keil).  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  amidst  the 
voluntary  contributions  of  gold,  copper,  etc.,  a 
legally  imposed  tax  would  be  specified.  But  it 
may  well  be  conjectured  that  the  standard,  after- 
wards fixed  for  the  tax  for  the  sanctuary,  served 
as  a  guide  in  the  voluntary  contributions,  as  has 
been  already  remarked  [p.  126].  On  the  abun- 
dance of  gold  and  silver  among  the  ancient  Ori- 
entals, as  showing  the  possibility  of  the  actual 
correctness  of  these  accounts  iu  opposition  to 
modern  doubts,  vid.  Keil,  page  251 ;  Knobel, 
page  333. 

k.  Chap,  xxxix.  1-31.  "The  preparation  of 
the  priestly  garments,  to  the  description  of  which 
a  fi-ansition  is  formed  by  a  statement  of  the  ma- 
terials for  them  and  of  the  design  of  them.  The 
epliod,  vers.  2-7,  corresponds  to  xxviii.  6-12 ; 
the  breast-plate,  vers.  8-21,  to  xxviii.  1.5-29— the 
Urim  and  Thummim.  which  needed  no  special 
preparation,  being  pa.s8ed  over.  The  robe,  vers. 
22-26,  answers  to  xxviii.  31-34;  the  coats,  head- 
pieces, breeches,  and  girdles  for  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  vers.  27-29  to  xxviii.  39,  40  and  42.  The 
bead-covering  of  the  common  priests  in  xxviii.  40 
(ni>*2J-:)  is  here  (ver.  28)  called  n>3jpn  '7x3 
ornamental  caps"  (Keil).  Vid.  Knobel  for  ar- 
chceological  notes,  p.  334. 


FIFTH   SECTION. 


The  Religious  Presentation  of  all   the   Component   Parts   of  the   Sanctuary,   and 
Moses'  Blessing. 

Chapter   XXXIX.   32-43. 

32  Thus  was  all  the  work  of  the  tabernacleof  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meet- 
ing] finished:  and  the  childreaof  Israel  did  accordingtoallthatjehovahcommanded 

33  Mosss,  so  did  they.  And  they  brought  the  tabernacle  unto  Mose.*,  the  tent,  and 
all  his  [it?]  furniture,  his  taehes  [its  clasps],  his  [its]  boards,  his  [its]   bars,  and  his 

o4  [its]  pillaiv.  and  his  [its]  sockets,  And  the  covering  of  rams' skins  dyed  red,  and  the 
3.}  covering  of  badgers'  [seals']  skins,  and  the  veil  of  the  covering  [screen].  The  ark  of 

36  the  testimony,  and  the  staves  thereof  and  the  mercy -seat,  The  table,  and  all  the 

37  vessels  thereof,  and  the  shew-bread.  The  pure  candlestick,  with  the  lamps  thereof, 
even  with  the  [thereof,  the]  lamps  to  be  set  iu  order,  and  all  the  vessels   [utensils] 

38  thereof  and  the  oil  for  light  [the  light],  And  the  golden  altar,  and  the  anointing 
oil,  and  the  sweet  incense,  and  the  hanging  [screen]  for  the  tabernacle-door  [door 

39  of  the  tent  of  meeting].  The  brazen  [copper]  altar,  and  his  grate  of  brass  [its  cop- 
per grating],  his  [its]  staves,  and  all  his  [its]  vessels,  the  laver  and   his  foot  [its 

40  base],  Tlie  hangings  of  the  court,  his  [its]  pillars,  and  his  [its]  .=ocliets,  and  the 
hanging  [screen]  for  the  court-gate,  his  [its]  cords,  and  his  [its]  pins,  and  all  the 
ves.-^els  [furniture]  of  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  for  the  tent  of  the  congregation 

41  [of  meeting].  The  cloths  [garments]  of  service  to  do  service  [for  ministering]  in 
the  holy  place,  and  the  holy  garments  for  Aaron  the  priest,  and  his  sons'  garments, 

42  to  minister  in  the  priest's  office  [to  minister  iu  as  priests].  According  to  all  that 
Jehovah  cotumauded  Moses,  so  the  children  of  Israel  made  [did]  all  the  work. 


43  And  Moses  did  look  upon  [saw]  all  the  work,  and,  behold,  they  had  done  it  as 
Jehovah  had  commanded,  even  [commanded,]  so  had  they  done  it:  and  Moses 
'  them. 

tabernacle  (pOT)  a  tent  ('^HS).  It  thence 
follows  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  variegated  cur- 
tains formed  the  inner  walls  of  the  tabernacle, 
or  covered  the  boards  on  the  inside  ( '  how  then 
could  they  be  stretched?).  On  the  other  hand, 
the  goats'  hair  curtains  formed  the  outer  cover- 
ing" (Keil).  The  colored  curtains  formed  the  in- 
side even  if  they  were  stretched  over  the  boards. 
Ver.  43.  "The  readiness  with  which  the  peo- 
ple had  brought  in  abundance  the  requisite  gifts 
for  this  work,  and  the  zeal  with  which  ihey  had 
accomplished  the  work  in  half  a  year  or  less 
(vid.  xl.  17),  were  delightful  signs  of  Israel's 
willingness  to  serve  the  Lord;  and  for  this  the 
blessing  of  God  could  not  fail  to  be  given" 
(Keil). 


EXEGETICAL  AND   CRITICAL. 

Besides  the  minute  enumeration  of  the  several 
parts  of  the  tabernacle,  is  especially  noticeable 
the  repeated  observation  thai  they  had  done 
everything  according  to  Jehovah's  command- 
mem,  vers.  32  and  43.  The  enthusiasm  and  the 
joy  in  making  offerings  was  at  the  same  time  a 
punctilious  obedience  to  the  law — an  obedience 
which,  being  rendered  primarily  to  Moses, 
shows  that  the  new  order  of  things,  or  the  Old 
covenant,  is  again  established. 

Vers.  33,  34.  "  By  '^HSn  are  meant  the  two 
tent-cloths  composed  of  curtains,  the  purple  one 
and  the  one  made  of  goats'  hair,  which  made  the 


SIXTH   SECTION. 


The  Erection  of  the  Tabernacle  and  its  Dedication  as  the  Place  of  the  Revela- 
tion of  the  Glory  of  Jehovah.  (Analogies:  Abraham's  Grove  at  Mamre ; 
Jacob's  Bethel;  Solomon's  Temple  ;  Zerubbabel's  Temple  ;  Temple  Dedication 
of  Judas  Maccabeus;  Christ  in  the  Temple.) 

Chapter  XL.  1-38. 

A.— THE   COMMAND. 


1,  2    And  Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  On  the  first  day  of  the  first  month 

3  shalt  thou  set  up  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting].     And 
thou  shalt  put  therein  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and  cover  the  ark  with  the  veil. 

4  And  thou  shalt  bring  in  the  table,  and  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  to  be  set  in 
order  upon  it  [set  it  in  order]  ;  and  thou  shalt  bring  in  the  candlestick,  and  light 

5  [set  up]  the  lamps  thereof     And  thou  shalt  set  the  altar  of  gold  for  the  incense 
[golden  altar  of  incense]  before  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  and   put  [set  up]   the 

6  han>iin?  [screen]  of  the  door  to  [of]  the  tabernacle.     And  thou  shalt  set  the  altar 
of  the  [of]  burnt-offering  before  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  the  con- 

7  gregation  [of  meeting].     And  thou  shalt  set  the  laver  between  the  tent  of  the  con- 

8  gregation  [of  meeting]  and  the  altar,  and  shalt  put  water  therein.     And  thou  shalt 
set  up  the  court  round  about,  and  hang  up  the  hanging  at  the    court-gate  [put  up 

0  the  sci'oon  of  the  gate  of  the  court].     And  thou  shalt  take  the  anointing   oil,  and 
anoint  the  tabernacle,  and  all  that  is  therein,  and  shalt  hallow  it,  and  all  the  ves- 

10  sels  furniture]  thereof:  and  itshallbeholy.  And  thou  shaltanointthealtarofthe[of] 
burnt-offiu-ing,  and  all  his  ves.sels  [its  utensils],  and  sanctify  the  altar  :  and  it  shall 

11  be  an  altar  most  holy  [and  the  altar  shall  be  most  holy].     And  thou  shalt  anoint 

12  the  laver  and  his  foot  [its  base],  and  sanctify  it.     And  thou  shalt  bring  Aaron  and 
his  sons  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  [tent  of  meeting],  and 

13  wash  them  with  water.     And  thou  shalt  put  upon  Aaron  the  holy  garments,   and 
[garments;  and  thou  shalt]  anoint  him,  and  sanctify  him  :  that  [him,  that]  he  may 

14  minister  unto  mc  in  the  priest's  office  [be  priest  unto  me].     And  thou  shalt  bring 


CHAP.  XL.  1-38. 


1.5  his  sons,  and  clothe  them  with  coats:  And  thou  shalt  anoint  them,  as  thou  didst 
anoint  their  father,  that  they  may  minister  unto  me  in  the  priest's  office  [be  priests 
unto  me] :  for  [and]  their  anointing  shall  surely  be  [shall  be  to  them  for]  an  ever- 
lasting priesthood  thronghout  their  generations. 

B.— THE  ERECTION  OF  THE  BUILDING  (NOT  THE  CONSECRATION  OF  IT). 
Vers.  16-33. 

16  Thus  did  Moses:  according  to  all  that  Jehovah  commanded  him,  so  did  he. 

1 7  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  first  month  in  the  second  year,  on  the  first  day  of  the 

18  mouth,  that  the  tabernacle  was  reared  [set]  up.  And  Moses  reared  [set]  up  the 
tabernacle,  and  fastened  his  [its]  sockets,  and  set  up  the  boards  thereof,  aud  puo 

19  in  the  bars  thereof,  aud  reared  [set]  up  his  [its]  pillars.  And  he  spread  abroad 
[spread]  the  tent  over  the  tabernacle,  and  put  the  covering  of  the  tent  above  upon 

20  it ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses.  And  he  took  and  put  the  testimony  into  the 
ark,  and  set  the  staves  on  the  ark,  and  put  the  mercy-seat  above  upon  the  ark : 

21  Aud  he  brought  the  ark  into  the  tabernacle,  aud  set  up  the  veil  of  the  covering, 
and  covered  [screened]  the  ark  of  the  testimony ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses. 

22  And  he  put  the  table  in  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  upon  the  side  of 
2'i  the  tabernacle  northward,  without  the  veil.  And  he  set  the  bread  in  order  upon  it 
24  before  Jehovah  ;  as  Jehovah  had  commanded  Moses.     And  he  put  the  candlestick  in 

the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  over  against  the  table,  on  the  side  of  the 
2-7  tabernacle  southward.     And  he  lighted  [set  up]   the  lamps  before  Jehovah ;  as 

26  Jehovah  commanded  Moses.     And  he  put  the  golden  altar  in  the  tent  of  the  con- 

27  gregation  [of  meeting]  before  the  veil :  And  he  burnt  sweet  incense  thereon ;  aa 

28  Jehovah  commanded  Mosfis.     And  he  set  up  the  hanging  at  [put  up  the  screen  of] 

29  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  And  he  put  the  altar  of  burnt-ofleriug  by  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  and  offered  upon  it  the 
burnt-offering,   and   the  meat-ofteriug    [meal-offering] ;   as   Jehovah   commanded 

30  Moses.     And  he  set  the  laver  between  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting] 

31  and  the  altar,  and  put  water  there,  to  wash  withal.     And  Moses  and  Aaron  and 

32  his  sons  washed  their  hands  and  their  feet  thereat  [therefrom]  :  When  they  went 
into  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  and  when  they  came  near  unto  the 

33  altar,  they  washed ;  as  Jehovah  commanded  Moses.  And  he  reared  [set]  up  the 
court  round  about  the  tabernacle  and  the  altar,  and  set  up  the  hanging  [screen] 
of  the  court-gate.     So  Moses  finished  the  work. 


34  Then  a  [the]  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  and  the 

35  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the  tabernacle.  Aud  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter  into  the 
tent  of  the  congregation  [of  meeting],  because  the  cloud  abode  thereon,  and  the 

36  glory  of  Jehovah  filled  the  tabernacle.     And  when  the  cloud  was  taken  up  from 

37  over  the  tabernacle,  the  children  of  Israel  went  onward  in  all  their  journeys:  But 
if  [whenever]  the  cloud  were  [was]  not  taken  up.  then  they  journeyed  not  till  the 

88  day  that  it  was  taken  up.  For  the  cloud  of  Jehovah  was  upon  the  tabernacle  by 
day,  and  fire  was  on  [in]  it  by  night,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  house  of  Israel,  through- 
out all  their  journeys. 

of  the  arrangement  of  the  parts.  As  to  the  lime, 
the  first  day  of  the  first  month,  Nisan  (of  the  se- 
cond year  of  the  exodus)  is  selected,  as  if  in  order 
that  it  might  be  ready  for  the  first  Passover  fes- 
tival in  the  middle  of  Nisan. 

Ver.  3.  The  ark  of  the  testimony  is  the 
real  soul  of  the  sancluary.  It  represents  the 
presence  of  Jehovah.  Next  to  it  the  veil  is  the 
most  important,    since   it  expresses   the   unap- 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

a.  The  Command  to  Erect  the  Building. 
Chap.  xl.  1-1.5. 
Ver.  1.  Though  Moses  knows  that  the  taber- 
nacle is  to  be  erected,  yet  he  must  receive  .leho- 
vah's  command  in  reference  to  the  time  and  order 
14 


proacliabUness  of  Jehovah,  and  protecfs  the  ark 
from  profanation,  but  still  more  protects  from 
the  seutencc  of  destruction  those  who  approach 
without  authority. 

Ver.  4.  Next  comes  the  table.  With  the  table 
Jehovah  comes,  in  a  limited  degree,  out  of  the  Holy 
of  holies  into  the  holy  place.  By  this  symbolic 
cotnmunion  with  the  priests  He  discloses  to  the 
people  the  hope  of  fellowship  with  Him,  the  fel- 
lowship of  His  Spirit,  of  His  blessings.  Then 
the  lamps  are  lighted  as  if  for  a  feast;  for  en- 
lightenment is  dependent  on  the  communion  of 
the  heart  with  God. 

Ver.  5.  As  Jehovah  comes,  with  the  table,  in 
a  sense  into  the  holy  place,  so  the  priesthood  of 
Israel  on  its  part  comes  in  a  sense  into  the  Holy  of 
holies  with  the  altar  of  incense  which  symbolizes 
prayer.  These  holy  things,  too,  which  denote 
and  illustrate  communion  with  Jehovah,  must  be 
screened  by  the  curtain  of  the  holy  place. 

Ver.  6.  As  the  altar  of  incense  bears  a  relation 
to  the  door  of  the  Holy  of  holies,  so  the  altar  of 
burnt-ofifering  to  the  door  of  the  holy  place. 
The  laver  stands  nearer  the  holy  place  than  the 
altar  does,  because  it  is  for  the  priests,  and  con- 
tains, in  the  water,  the  means  of  purification  for 
the  sacrificial  service — in  which  circumstance  is 
disclosed  an  adumbration  of  the  N.  T.  baptism, 
wliich  separates  animal  offerings  from  the 
temple. 

Ver.  8.  The  court  also  has  its  screen,  for  the 
court,  too,  is  an  enclosed  vestibule  of  the  holy 
place,  as  contrasted  with  the  profane  heathen 
world  and  defiled  Israelites,  or  even  such  as 
approach  with  empty  hands. 

Ver.  9.  The  anointing  of  the  dwelling  and  all 
of  its  individual  parts  expresses  the  truth,  that  all 
the  worship  in  this  house  depends  on  the  life  of 
tlie  spirit — is  from  the  spirit  and  for  the  spirit. 
But  in  what  sense  is  the  altar  of  burnt-ofiFering, 
standing  as  it  does  in  the  court,  most  holy,  [lite- 
rally, "holy  of  holies"]  ?  Because  the  olferiug  of 
sacrifice,  and  the  self-surrender  which  consists  in 
trustful  obedience,  and  which  underlies  the  offer- 
ing, are  the  fundamental  condition  of  the  genu- 
ineni.'ss  of  the  whole  ritual  worship.  According 
to  Keil,  the  phrase  designates  the  fact  that  the 
altar  is  not  to  be  approached  by  the  people  who 
offer  sacrifices.* 

Ver.  lo.  Aaron's  sons  also  are  anointed  to- 
gether with  him,  because  they  represent  the 
hereditary  perpetuity  of  the  priesthood.  Keil 
holds  thiit  ihe  consecration  of  the  priests  was 
not  contemporaneous  with  the  erection  of  the 
tabernacle,  but  took  place  later.  But  here  too 
only  tlie  rommand  is  first  given,  and  then  the 
erection  of  the  tabernacle  precedes  its  execution. 
Knobel  says:  The  statement  [of  ver.  lli]  antici- 
pates Lev.  viii.  If  we  distinguish  between  com- 
mand and  execution,  the  anticipation  is  only 
seeming,  or  at  least  only  grows  out  of  the  sum- 
mariness  of  the  narrative. 

b.  The  Erection  of  the  Building.     Vers.  lG-33. 

Ver.  17.  And  it  came  to  pass. — "Inasmuch 

as  from  the  arrival  of  the  Israelites  at  Sinai  in 


*  I  J.  e..  as  roine.  on  ncc^'unt  of  its  position,  more  expoapii 
lo  tlie  contact  of  l*ymon  tliiin  tli«  otlier  sac  *»d  ol.jects,  wtiich 
wtre  wbere  oo  laymao  waa  allowed  to  cume  at  all. — Ta.] 


the  third  month  after  Ihe  exodus  (xix.  1)  until 
the  first  day  of  the  second  year,  when  the  work 
was  delivered  to  Moses  complete,  not  quite  nine 
months  elapsed,  all  the  work  of  the  building  was 
done  in  less  than  half  a  year"  (Keil).* 

Ver.  19.  He  spread  the  tent  over  the  ta- 
bernacle.—By  the  "tent"  here  Keil  correctly 
understands  the  two  principal  coverings;  by  the 
"  covering,"  the  two  outer  coverings. 

Ver.  20.  The  testimony. — The  tables  of  the 
law,  as  records  which  were  to  bear  perpetual  wit- 
ness to  the  divine  will  orally  revealed  to  t  he  people. 
Knobel  refers  it  to  the  whole  revelation  so  far 
as  then  existent — which  Keil  rightly  disputes. 

Ver.  23.  On  the  arrangement  of  the  twelve 
loaves  in  two  rows,  vid.  Lev.  xxiv.  6. 

Ver.  30.  Between  the  tent  of  meeting 
and  the  altar. — "Probably  more  to  one  side, 
so  that  the  priests  did  not  need  to  go  around  the 
altar"  (Keil.). 

The  offering  of  sacrifice,  ver.  20,  and  the 
burning  of  incense,  ver.  27,  are  to  be  regarded 
as  extraordinary  acts  of  Moses,  the  founder 
of  the  system  of  worship,  and  not  belonging  to 
the  ordinary  worship  of  the  people,  which  pre- 
supposed the  anointing  of  the  sanctuary,  and 
which  began  with  a  sin-offering,  whereas  here 
only  burnt-offerings  and  meal-offerings  are 
spoken  of. 

Ver.  33.  The  court  was  not  only  a  court ;  it 
enclosed  the  tabernacle.  According  to  Josephus 
{Anliq.  III.  6,  3)  the  tabernacle  stood  in  the 
middle  of  the  court. 

c.  JTie  Divine  Dedication  of  ihe  Building  Ante- 
rior to  the  Human  Dedication. 
Vers.  34-38. 
Ver.  34.  If  anything  is  fitted  to  exhibit  the 
Levitical  ritual  as  a  transitory  one,  as  an  edu- 
cational institution  designed  for  the  training  of 
the  people  up  to  the  time  of  their  maturity,  it 
is  the  fact  that  the  completed  tabernacle  forms 
the  conclusion  of  Exodus,  not  the  beginning  of 
Leviticus;  that  Moses  offered  sacrifices  and 
burned  incense  in  it  before  Aaron  the  priest 
did  ;  but  especially  that  Jeliovah  Himself  conse- 
crated the  sanctuary  by  His  manifestation  of 
Himself  in  the  sacred  cloud  before  it  was  conse- 
crated by  the  priesthood.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
it  was  a  saying  that  a  church  was  consecrated 
by  angels  in  Ihe  night  before  it  was  going  to  be 
consecrated  by  priests.  Perhaps  the  saying  was 
a  reminiscence  of  the  mystery  here  recorded. 
For  Jehovah's  manifestation  of  Himself  is  some- 
thing very  mysterious,  a  holy  token,  viewed 
only  by  the  eyes  of  faith.  Above  the  tabernacle 
the  cloud  appears,  and  covers  it,  in  order  lo 
remove  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  which  fills  the 
dwelling,  from  the  view  of  all.  even  of  .Moses. 
It  is  not  said  that  this  condition  became  a  per- 
manent one;  on  the  contrary,  the  tabernacle 
soon  afterwards  became  accessible,  except  as 
regards  the  regulations  concerning  the  Holy  of 
holies.     But  up  to  that  time  it  was  unapproach- 


*  (This  is  made  ont  by  deductinc  from  the  nine  months 
tlie  ciEhty  da.vs  (xxiv.  18;  x.\xiv.  '28)  S|ient  liy  Moses  on  Ihe 
time  spent  in  preparation  for  tlie  giving  of 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


able,  locked  up,  as  it  were,  and  had  to  be  un- 
locked by  sacerdotal  expiations  according  to 
the  Levitical  rites. 

At  the  close  is  given  a  general  statement  con- 
cerning the  future  of  the  tabernacle,  which, 
however,  also  discloses  the  design  of  it.  "The 
Future  verbs  designate  the  action  as  a  repeated 
and  perpetual  one"  (Knobel).  It  was  designed 
as  a  divine  token  for  the  people  on  their  march. 
When  the  cloud  rose  up  from  the  tabernacle, 
this  was  the  signal  for  starting — an  expressive 
signal ;  for  the  divine  token  then  visibly  sepa- 
rated itself  from  the  sacerdotal  dwelling;  Jeho- 
vah seemed  to  abandon  it,  as  He  in  truth  in  the 
strictest  sense  did  leave  the  temple  in  the  Jew- 


ish war.  It  was  the  signal  for  the  people  to 
break  camp  and  move  onward.  But  the  cloud 
only  showed  the  w.ay,  in  order,  at  a  new  stop- 
ping-place, to  rest  down  again  on  the  tabernacle, 
and  thus  to  order  a  halt.  Thus  the  book  closes 
with  the  profoundest  thought  concerning  the 
history  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  expressed  in  a 
symbolic  form  and  so  graphically  as  to  be  ap- 
prehensible by  a  child.  The  pillar  of  cloud  above 
the  tabernacle  by  day;  the  fiery  brightness  in  it 
by  night — before  the  eyes  of  all  Israel ; — thus 
was  made  sensible  to  the  people  that  presence 
of  their  covenant-God  which  accompanied  them 
in  all  their  journeyings.  Comp.  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  temple,  1  Kings  viii.  and  Ezek.  xliii. 
4;  Num.  is.  15. 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


FIRST  DIVISION :  DOCTRINAL  AND  ETHICAL  REFLECTIONS. 


PKELIMINARY    EEMAEKS. 

The  division  of  the  Bible  of  which  we  are 
treating,  the  Thorah  (law)  in  the  narrow  sense, 
was  in  former  times  used  much  more  as  a  source 
of  doctrinal  and  ethical  rules  and  of  homiletical 
observations  than  now-a-days.  The  causes  of 
this  changed  attitude  of  theology  and  the  Church 
to  the  Law  lie  in  the  change  of  views  on  Old 
Testament  Judaism  and  the  Old  Testament  itself, 
on  inspiration,  on  hermeneutics,  and  on  the 
wants  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  disregard  of  the  Old  Testament  scheme 
of  revelation,  which  prevailed  almost  universally 
among  the  Gnostics,  drove  the  Church  in  the 
other  direction,  to  an  over-estimation  of  the 
stage  of  religious  development  exhibited  in  the 
Old  Testament,  so  that  it  was  almost  put  on  an 
equality,  and  in  many  ways  was  confounded, 
with  the  New  Testament.  The  common  warfare 
which  heathen  and  Jewish  Christians  had  to 
wage  against  heathenism  tended  very  early  to 
beget  Judaizing  forms  of  Christianity  in  theo- 
logy, forms  of  worship,  and  polity.  To  this 
opposition  between  the  Jewish  and  the  heathen 
was  added  the  opposition  between  the  divine 
and  the  human,  which  through  the  unconscious 
influence  of  heathen  conceptions  so  emphasized 
the  divine  side  as  to  lead  to  a  one-sided  theory 
of  inspiration,  which  caused  the  Old  Testament 
to  appear  as  substantially  one  with  the  New 
rather  than  as  contrasted  with  it.  But  the  dif- 
ficulties which  thus  arose  were  bridged  over  by 
the  allegorical  style  of  interpretation.  This 
was  done  in  two  ways :  In  the  form  of  a  philoso- 


phical allegorizing  of  the  heathen  myths,  it 
mediated  between  the  ancient  superstitious  hea- 
thenism and  the  later  skeptical  heathenism;  in 
the  form  of  the  Alexandrian  allegorizing  of 
Jewish  history,  it  mediated  between  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  Hellenic  literature  and  style 
of  thought.  Thus  then  Christian  theology  also 
was  led  to  make  a  bridge,  by  allegorical  means, 
between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  By 
this  means  the  Old  Testament,  already  in  great 
part  Christianized,  was  made  wholly  Christian, 
the  children  of  the  two  Testaments  in  a  sense 
exchanging  forms.  For  just  as  far  as  the  Jews 
were  pushed  forwards  and  made  Christians,  the 
Christians  were  pushed  backwards  and  made  a 
sort  of  Jews. 

On  account  of  the  manifold  confusion  of  ideas 
which  thus  arises,  let  it  be  here  remarked  that, 
by  the  allegorizing  method  of  interpretation,  we 
do  not  mean  the  thorough  explanation  of  passages 
really  intended  to  be  allegorical,  but  the  style  of 
exposition  which  perverts  the  historical  and  di- 
dactic meaning  of  the  Scriptures  into  what  is 
claimed  to  be  a  higher  and  more  spiritual  one 
by  sporting  with  analogies. 

In  consequence  of  this  Judaizing  theology  the 
Old  Testament,  and  particularly  the  three  books 
of  the  law,  became  a  deep  fountain  of  Christian 
and  religious  reflections,  especially  an  inex- 
haustible mine  for  Christian  mysticism  and  the- 
osophy. 

Following,  however,  the  extreme  legal  ten- 
dency, which  transformed  Christian  ministers 
into  Levites,  bishops  into  descendants  of  Aaron, 
the  Christian  churches  into  laymen,  the  eucha- 
rist  into  a  sin-offering,  churches  into  temples, 


and  which  was  ilesfroyed  only  in  its  central 
features  hy  the  theology  of  the  Reformation, 
came  the  great  reactioa  of  the  critical  school, 
which  passed  over  more  and  more  into  the  ex- 
treme of  rationalism. 

Now,  theret'ore,  the  Old  Testament,  and  with 
it  the  Old  Testament  religion  itself,  was  more  and 
more  degraded  and  caricatured  by  many  mon- 
strous disfigurements  bearing  witness  to  arrogant 
ignorance.  In  connection  with  this  there  grew 
out  of  the  single  product  of  Old  Testament  inspi- 
ration a  meagre  mesh  of  human  legends,  fictions, 
historic  reminiscenoes  and  errors,  with  the  de- 
struction of  which  the  youthful  criticism  carried 
on  its  chilli's  play.  But  the  science  of  herme- 
neutics  rejected,  together  with  the  allegorizing 
theory,  more  and  more  decidedly  also  the  sym- 
bolism and  typology  which  were  veiled  in  it ; 
and  while  it  rightly  laid  down  the  law  of  gram- 
matico-bistorical  iuterpretatioa  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, it  yet  at  once,  and  more  and  more,  fell  into 
the  mistake  of  taking  the  letter  according  to  the 
narrowest  literal  sense,  and  the  historical  matter 
as  only  an  unessential  modification  of  earlier  be- 
ginnings of  history.  For  this  new  theology  there 
were  no  new  spirits,  no  new  things,  no  new  words. 
Side  by  side  with  this  theological  revolution 
there  has,  to  be  sure,  maintained  itself  the  work- 
ing of  the  old  allegorizing  spirit — sometimes 
carried  even  to  the  pitch  of  absurdity.  What, 
c.  g.  have  not  the  Irvingites  been  able  to  make 
out  of  the  skins  which  covered  the  tabernacle! 

But  a  new  epocti  has  dawned  in  theology  and 
the  Church,  and  is  gradually  taking  shape  in  a 
more  successful  attempt  correctly  to  estimate  the 
Old  Testament.  The  general  statement  of  the  cor- 
rect relation  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment may  be  made  in  a  few  words:  Oneness  of 
substance,  contrast  in  the  form  of  development 
as  regards  both  the  records  and  the  facts  of  re- 
velation underlying  them. 

Yet  as,  in  this  view,  the  Old  Testament  is 
Christianity  in  the  germ,  so  thus  far  the  correct 
theology  and  exegesis  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
in  a  germinant  condition — a  condition  subject  to 
many  oscillations  connected  with  defective  dis- 
tinctions. 

In  the  first  place,  not  distinction  enough  is 
made  between  the  Judaism  of  the  Jewish  people, 
as  the  vehicles  of  the  Old  Testament  revelation, 
and  the  sacred  history  of  the  revelation  itself. 
So  the  French  Encyclopedists  identified  Chru- 
te-ndom  and  Christianity,  especially  Roman  Catho- 
lic Christendom. 

Again,  not  distinction  enough  is  made  between 
the  symbolic  forms  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
mythical  forms  of  the  heathen  world  t^vid.  Comm. 
on  Genesis,  p.  23sqq.). 

This  is  connected  with  the  fact  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  still  less  distinction  is  made  between 
the  Hebrew  (theocratic)  and  the  Hellenistic  (clas- 
sic) mode  of  conception  and  description.  Ac- 
cording to  the  latter,  history  is  a  presentation 
of  facts  in  their  outward  relation  of  cause  and 
offset  for  the  gratification  of  a  love  of  knowledge; 
poetry  is  ils  own  object,  and  ministers  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  beautiful;  and  didactics  minis- 
ters to  scholastic  knowledge  ;  whereas  theocratic 
history  presents  historic  facts  in  the  light  of 
eternal  ideas,  and  hence  in  symbolic  significance ; 


theocratic  poetry  allows  art  to  be  merged  in  the 
service  of  holiness;  and  didactics  does  not  deal 
with  abstract  formulas,  but  with  concrete  con- 
ceptions, because  it  aims  not  at  developing  a 
school,  but  at  building  up  a  church. 

Very  imperfect  also  is  frequently  the  distinc- 
tion made  between  the  prophecy  of  events  or  of 
types  and  the  prophecy  of  ideas  or  of  words.  That 
these  two  forms  depend  on  or;e  another;  that 
without  the  actual  reference  of  Israelitish  his- 
tory to  the  future  of  the  work  of  salvation,  there- 
fore without  the  line  of  prophetic  formations  or 
types  unknown  to  man,  but  well  known  to  the 
Spirit  of  God,  there  could  also  be  no  consciaus 
ideal  or  verbal  prophecies ;  and  that,  conversely, 
the  forward  movement  of  the  actual  mental  life 
of  the  people  in  typical  persons,  experiences, 
institutions  and  emotions,  is  conditioned  on  ideal 
guides,  i.  e.  on  verbal  prophecies; — this  fact  is 
founded  on  the  indissoluble  interaction  between 
an  ideal  and  a  life.  According  to  a  young  man's 
ideals,  his  life's  aim  is  shaped;  and  his  ideals, 
rising  up  out  of  his  life's  aims  and  attainments, 
assume  a  form  more  and  more  distinct  and  pure. 
Most  of  all  do  men  misunderstand  those  forms 
in  which  the  verbal  prophecy  is  still  inclosed 
like  a  bursting  bud,  in  the  integument  of  typical 
significance.  E.g.  that  mankind,  in  his  hostility 
to  the  serpent,  shall  bruise  its  head,  is  a  verbal 
prophecy;  but  the  expression  respecting  the 
woman's  seed  is  in  a  high  degree  typical.  So 
the  passage  about  the  son  of  the  virgin  in  Isa. 
vii.  must  be  divided  into  elements  of  verbal  pre- 
diction and  those  of  typical  meaning.  But  in 
general  there  is  connected  with  every  blossom 
of  verbal  prophecy  a  leaf  of  typical  foliage,  aa 
also,  on  the  other  hand,  over  all  typical  repre- 
sentations there  floats  a  meaning  full  of  prophetic 
presentiment. — The  theology  of  the  present  time, 
however,  would  suffer  a  complete  relapse,  should 
that  confusion  become  stationary  which  often 
appears  with  regard  to  the  distinction  between 
tlie  different  periods  of  development  in  the  Old 
Testament,  particularly  between  the  patriarchal 
and  the  Mosaic  periods.  Especially,  when  the 
whole  patriarchal  period  is  consigned  to  a  vague 
tradition,  and  the  Israelitish  religion  is  made  to 
begin  with  Mosaism,  there  is  an  end  of  a  tho- 
rough undersfjinding  not  only  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  of  all  the  Bible,  and  in  fact  of  the 
whole  kingdom  of  God.  Without  the  foundation 
laid  in  Abraham's  faith  in  the  promises,  Mosa- 
ism also,  according  to  Rom.  iv.  and  Gal.  iii.,  is 
entirely  unintelligible,  as  also  the  legality  of  the 
Middle  Ages  is  made  into  a  gloomy  caricature, 
unless  it  is  conceived  as  a  process  of  training 
for  the  people,  based  on  the  apostolic  and  an- 
cient Catholic  Church.  The  consequence  of  this 
one-sidedness  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  normal 
progress  of  Mosaism  towards  Messianic  prophecy 
cannot  be  appreciated,  but  is  misinterpreted, 
just  as  the  Reformation  of  the  Middle  Ages  is 
denounced  as  a  revolution. 

But  if  the  periods  of  Old  Testament  revelation 
are  correctly  appreciated,  then  one  will  be  able 
to  determine  more  accurately  the  difference  be- 
tween the  canonical  and  the  apocryphal  periods 
of  the  Old  Testament,  according  to  their  charac- 
teristic features.  The  one  characteristic  feature 
of  the  apocryphal  literature  is  the  national  ele- 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


ment  which  abandons  the  theocratic  classioalness 
or  canonicity ;  a  form  such  as  in  its  way  ap- 
peared in  the  Gr^co-Roman  literature,  and  in 
modern  literature  threatens  to  appear  every- 
where. In  the  period  of  the  Hebrew  popular 
literature,  Judaism  and  Alexaudrianism  fall 
apart;  and  inwardly  faith  is  blended  with  fana- 
ticism, superstition,  and  skepticism,  while  out- 
wardly the  Messianic  anticipations  retreat  be- 
hind the  contrasted  elements  of  Alexandrian 
spiritualism  and  Jewish  literalism. 

A  right  estimate  of  the  Old  Testament  periods 
will  also  disclose  the  great  signiticance  of  the 
difference  between  the  epochs  and  the  periods 
of  the  time  of  revelation,  and  much  that  is  in- 
comprehensible will  become  more  nearly  intelli- 
gible, e.  g.  the  great  difference  between  the 
epochs  abounding  ia  miracles  and  the  periods 
in  which  there  were  none^a  difference  the  reflex 
of  which  is  still  perceptible  in  the  contrast  be- 
tween that  half  of  the  age  of  the  church  which 
was  characterized  by  festivals  and  that  which 
was  without  them. 

The  theology  of  the  present  will  therefore  still 
have  considerable  obstacles  to  overcome.  But 
it  cannot  possibly  return  to  the  mediajval  and 
early  Protestant  style  of  dealing  with  the  Old 
Testament,  and  must  none  tlie  less  leave  behind 
the  rationalistic  relapses  of  negative  criticism 
and  of  pseudo-historical  exegesis.  It  will  set 
forth  the  divine  and  miraculous  revelations  as 
they  gradually  made  their  appearance,  according 
to  the  degrees  of  the  human  development  on  which 
they  rested,  in  the  fulness  and  beauty  of  their 
BHCcessive  factors. 

So  then  in  the  service  of  a  new  method  of  in- 
terpreting the  Mosaic  law,  a  method  which  may 
be  briefly  termed  the  Christological,  as  being  the 
due  appreciation  of  divine  truth  in  a  human 
coloring  and  form,  the  old  shafts  of  this  rich 
mine,  in  various  ways  filled  with  obstructions, 
will  be  re-opened;  and  instead  of  the  merely 
glistering  half  metals  of  exegetical  disquisitions 
there  will  be  found  for  Christian  instruction  and 
edification  a  yield  of  the  richest  metals. 

A.     GENERAL    BEMARKS     ON     THE    DOCTRINES    OF 
THE    LAW. 

As  to  the  law  of  Moses  as  a  whole,  we  cannot 
go  back  to  the  old  position,  that  it  still  serves  as 
a  moral  law  in  its  entirety,  i.  e.,  entirely  in  this 
its  outward  form,  especially  the  law  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  many  also  of  the  civil  laws,  e.  g.,  the 
law  of  tithes,  and  of  capital  punishment  for  the 
blasphemer;  but  the  New  Testament  truth,  that 
the  law  is  done  away  by  the  law  for  the  Chris- 
tian (Gal.  ii.),  must  not  be  so  interpreted  as  to 
imply  that  the  Mosaic  law  is  wholly  abrogated. 
It  will  rather  be  seen  that  it  has  been  freed  by 
Christ,  as  to  its  spiritual  elements,  from  the 
limitations  and  forms  of  the  Jewish  economy, 
that  it  in  this  very  w.ay  has  become  a  type  de- 
signed to  represent  and  illustrate  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  Christianity  in  its  details 
(yid.  Matt.  vi. ;  Rom.  iii.  31). 

In  like  manner  the  Jewish  people  are  no  more 
to  be  regarded  as,  abstractly  considered,  the 
people  of  God  overtopping  all  the  other  nations, 
as  even  yet  in  the  New  Testament  period  they 
are  sometimes  looked  on  as  a  nation  of  priests 


which  has  lost  its  privileges,  but  which  is  destined 
to  become  again  the  nobility  of  Christendom. 
But  little  as  the  whole  nation  is  to  be  estimated 
according  to  its  elect  ones,  so  little  should  it  be 
estimated  according  to  the  appearance  of  its 
degenerate  masses,  as  is  often  done  by  rational- 
ists, and  in  general  by  modern  writers.  As  the 
first-fruits  in  the  religious  development  of  tlie 
nations,  Israel  must  become  more  and  more  a  type 
for  elect  nations  of  the  New  Testament  era,  for  the 
idea  of  election  in  all  nations,  for  the  significance 
of  nationalities,  of  national  life  within  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  of  the  shape  given  by  Chris- 
tianity to  national  institutions. 

This  process  of  two-edged  or  two-sided  antag- 
onism against  the  extremes  will  have  to  be  car- 
ried on  in  all  the  points  in  which  biblical  theolo- 
gy, in  a  Christological  aspect,  relates  to  the  law. 

The  dogmatic  peculiarity  of  the  Mosaic  law  ia 
its  crystalline  distinctness  of  form  and  its  trans- 
parency, or  its  unpoetic  precision  and  its  sug- 
gestive symbolicalness.  The  absence  of  figures 
in  the  Mosaic  law  also  marks  its  style,  which 
everywhere  and  in  the  smallest  details  avoids  the 
obscurity  of  an  imaginative  diction.  This  pro- 
saic precision  is  all  the  more  striking,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  here  and  there  interrupted  by  highly 
poetical  passages,  and  finally  is  supplemented  by 
the  lofty  style  of  the  prophetic  book  of  Deute- 
ronomy. But  out  of  this  very  distinctness,  seem- 
ingly related  only  to  civil  affairs,  there  shine 
forth  everywhere  the  suggestive  thoughtfulness 
and  symbolicalness  which  gives  to  Mosaism  the 
character  of  a  typical  institution  throughout. 

The  fundamental  dogma  of  Mosaism  is  this: 
Elohim  is  Jehovah,  or,  Jehovah  is  Elohim,  as  the 
fundamental  dogma  of  the  New  Testament  is  this: 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  or,  the  Christ  is  Jesus.  The 
God  of  all  the  worlds,  Elohim,  is  Jehovah,  the 
covenant  God  of  Israel;  the  coven.ant  God  of 
Israel  is  also  none  the  less  the  God  of  all  the 
worlds.  Religious  catholicity  and  religious  par- 
ticularism thus  complement  each  other,  although 
a  narrow  view  of  things  keeps  trying  to  bring 
them  into  antagonism. 

On  the  basis  of  this  dogma  come  first  of  all 
into  clear  prominence  the  idea  and  the  law  of 
personality.  Jehovah  is  holy,  i.  e..  He  keeps  Hia 
personality,  in  which  idea  and  essence  are  one, 
pure  and  unmixed,  and  for  this  reason  He  trains 
up  Israel  to  be  His  holy  people,  a  people  of  per- 
sonal worthiness.  Again  and  again  this  covenant 
fellowship  between  the  absolute  and  the  limited 
personality  is  emphasized,  also,  therefore,  the 
sonship  for  which  Israel  is  called  into  existence. 

The  idea  that  Israel,  or  humanity,  is  akin 
with  God,  is  more  conspicuous  in  the  stern  ma- 
jesty of  the  lav  than  even  in  the  dogmatics  of 
the  church.  The  Canaanites  are  rejected  for  the 
reason  that  they  have  ruined  the  worthiness  of 
personality  in  the  double  form  of  voluptuous  rites 
and  of  offe'rings  to  Moloch. 

With  the  notion  of  personality  and  holiness  to 
which  Israel  is  called  in  his  fellowship  with  God 
are  inseparably  connected  the  necessity  of  expia- 
tion and  the  consecration  of  sacrifices.  The  con- 
secration of  sacrifices ;  for  man  always  follows 
the  impulse  to  make  expiatory  offerings.  If  he 
does  not  do  this  in  a  manner  pleasing  to  God,  he 
does  it  as  a  lieathen  in  horrid  caprice.     To  bodily 


suiciile  corresponJs  in  this  respect  intellectual 
suicide,  I  be  tuial  denial  of  immortality,  respect- 
ing winch  it  is  labely  asserted  that  Moses  knew 
noiliiug  of  it.  Moies,  wlio  had  brought  his  peo- 
ple oui  uf  Egypt,  out  of  the  land  where  men  wor- 
ship the  dead  and  the  other  world,  had  lirst  of 
all  to  wean  the  people  from  Egyptian  concep- 
tions, and  to  train  them  chiefly  to  sanclify,  as 
they  ought,  the  things  of  this  world,  as  being  the 
proper  loundation  for  a  true  view  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  other  world.  The  idea  of  immorta- 
liiy,  as  something  presupposed,  is  sufficiently 
obvious  in  the  Mosaic  religion. 

As  10  the  law  itself,  we  must  not  overlook  its 
divisions,  nor  the  various  combinations  that  re- 
bult  tioui  thein.  Although  the  law  is  a  unit,  yet 
the  old  disiiuctiou  between  the  moral,  ceremo- 
nial, and  civil  law  is  well  founded.  Hence  the 
command  of  the  day  of  rest  is  given  in  two  con- 
nections: as  an  ethical  law  of  humanity  in  the 
decalogue,  and  as  a  ceremonial  law  among  the 
regularions  for  festivals  in  L.eviticus.  If  this 
connectioQ  is  overlooked,  the  Levitical  ceremo- 
nial Sabbath  will  be  transferred  to  the  ten  com- 
mandments, and  on  the  other  hand  the  Sabbath 
law  of  Leviticus  will  be  treated  as  a  mere  Jewish 
ceremonial  law.  A  similar  combination  is  found 
in  the  ordinance  of  the  day  of  atonement.  Le- 
vitically  it  was  the  culmination  of  all  the  feasts; 
socially  it  was  the  fast-day  of  preparation  for 
the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

The  Messianic  seal  of  the  three  books  (Exo- 
dus, Leviticus,  and  Numbers),  which  is  discerned 
in  the  various  institutions  of  the  law,  is  found 
unmistakably  impressed  on  the  three  books : 
Exodus  is  the  book  which  sets  forth  the  Messiah  as 
prophet;  in  Leviticus  the  Messianic  high-priest- 
hood is  typically  portrayed;  while  the  book  of 
Numbers  describes  the  organization,  appearance, 
and  guidance  of  God's  host,  whose  military  and 
victorious  prince  is  Jehovah  in  His  Messianic 
future.     See  details  in  the  Introduction. 

Literature. 

Here  belong,  besides  general  commentaries, 
works  on  biblical  theology  (vid.  Comm.  on  Genesis, 
p.  02.=qq.).  rid.a.ri3tinVonCo\\n'sBiblischeTheo- 
/o(7if,l.p.l9.  Likewise  in  Hagenbach' a  £nci(cfo/ia- 
rf/c,  p.  214.  [Darling's  Cyclopedia,  Smith's  Bible 
Dictionary,  Am.  Ed.].  Hagenbach  puts  here  Ilof- 
niann's  Schriftheweis  des  Glauhens. — On  the  King- 
dom of  God,'  and,  in  particular,  Christology,  vid. 
Comm.  on  Genesis. 

Most  recent  works:  Von  d.  Golz :  Gottes  Of. 
fe.nbitrunri  diirrh  heiliye  Geschichte,  Basel,  18G8. 
Ewiild,  Dif  Lehrevon  Gott,  oder  Theologie  des  At- 
tni  und  \nif,i  Ti'nlriments,  Vol.  I.  Die  Lehre  vom 
Worle  Gfjlh-s.  Leipzig,  1871.  Oehler,  Theology 
of  Ik,'  Old  'I'r^iammt  [Clark's  Foreign  Theological 
Library,  1S75,  '1  vols.]. 

Here  helong  works  on  special  dogmatic  and 
ethical  question",  on  the  Israelitish  character 
and  beliefs,  especially  on  the  Jewish  belief  in  im- 
mortalily,  on  typology,  and  on  Jewish  laws. 

In  reference  to  the  general  character  of  the 
Israelites,  there  are,  in  opposition  to  the  scoffs  of 
Feuerbach  and  the  depreciatory  judgment  of  Ke- 
nan, Richard  Wagner,  and  olliers,  lo  be  consi- 
dered both  Jewish  and  Judaistic  over-estimates 


(e.  g.,  of  Baumgarten  and  others),  and  likewise 


Monographs.  On  the  name  Jehovah  vid.  Tho- 
luck,  Vermischle  Schriflen.  I.,  p.  377  sqq.  The 
article  by  Oehler,  in  Herzog's  Eeal-encyclopSdie ; 
Danz,  p.  425.  [Reland,  Decas  er.ercilationum,  etc. ; 
Reinke,  Philogtsch-historische  Abhandluug  iVier  de/i 
Gottesnamen  Jehovah;  the  above-mentioned  arti- 
cle by  Tholuck,  translated  by  Dr.  Robinson  in 
the  Biblical  Repository,  Vol.  IV.,  89-108;  E.  Bal- 
lantine,  Interpretation  of  Ex.  vi.  2,  3;  ibid..  Vol. 
III.,  p.  730  sqq.  See  also  Hengstenberg,  Authen- 
ticity of  the  Pentateuch,  I.,  p.  213  sqq. ;  Kurtz,  Die 
Einheit  der  Genesis,  p.  xliii.  sqq. ;  Macdonald, 
Introduction  to  the  Pentateuch,  I.,  p.  165  sqq. 
-Tr.]. 

On  the  Mosaic  law.  Vid.  the  older  writings  in 
Walch's  Bibliotheca,  I.  p.  119.  Also  the  arlicle  on 
ihis  topic,  and  a  list  of  works,  in  Herzog's  Sca.'-en- 
cyclopiidie.  Langen,  Mosaisches  Licht  und  Recht, 
Halle,  1732;  Salvador,  Geschichte  der  mosaischen 
Inslitutionen;  Bluhnie,  Collatio  legum  Romanarum 
ct  Mosaicarum,  1843.  Schnell,  Das  israelitische 
Recht  in  seinen  Grundziigen  dargeslellt,  Basel,  1853 ; 
Bunsen,  Inhalt  undEpochen  der  mosaischen  Gesetzge- 
bung  (Bibelurkunden.  I.  p.  229);  Riehm,  Die  Ge 
setzgebunginLandeMoab,Goiba.,lS54.  [Michaelia, 
Laws  of  Moses;  Saalschulz,  Das  mosaische  Recht; 
Wines,  Commentary  on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient 
Hebrews.— iR.'i. 

R.  Kiibel,  Das  alttestamentliche  Gesetz  und  seine 
Urlnindc,  Stuttgart,  1867;  F.  E.  Kubel,  Die 
soziale  mid  volkstoirthschaftliche  Gesetzgebung  dee 
Allen  Bundes,  Wiesbaden,  1870. 

On  the  Mosaic  doctrine  of  immortality,  Oehler, 
Tetcris  Testamenti  sententia  de  rebus  post  mortem 
fuluris,  Stuttgart,  1846;  Brecher,  Die  Vns/erb- 
'hehkeitslehre  des  israelitischen  Volks,  Leipzig,  1857; 
Engelbert,  Das  negative  Verdienst  dea  Alien  Testa- 
ments urn  die  Vnsterblichkeitslehre,  Berlin,  1857; 
Herm.  Schultz,  Die  Vorausselzungen  der  christ- 
lichen  Lehre  von  der  Unsterblichkeit,  Gottingen, 
1861;  'K.\osiiTma.iin,  Iloffnung  kilnftiger  Erlosung 
aus  dcm  Todeszustande  bti  den  Frommen  des  A.  T. 
( Untersuchungen  zur  alttcslamcntlichen  Theologie, 
Gotba,  1868).  [Bottcher,  De  Inferis  Rebusgue 
post  Mortem  futuris  ex  Eibrseorum  et  Griecorum 
'  Opinionibus,  Dresden,  1846;  Warburton,  Divine 
Legation  of  Moses;  Alger,  Critical  History  of  the 
Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life,  and  the  bibliographical 
Appendix  of  the  same  by  Ezra  Abbot,  LL.  D. 
-Tr.] 

On  the  typology  of  the  Old  Testament,  espe- 
cially of  the  Pentateuch,  vid.  Comm.  on  Genesis, 
p.  G2  sq. ;  Hillor,  Neues  System  aller  Vorbilder 
Jesu  Chrisli  durch  das  ganze  Alte  Testament; 
Fairb.airn,  Ti/pology  of  Scripture;  Kii-hr,  Symbolik 
des  mosaischen  Cullus ;  monographs  in  Liebner 
and  Dorner's  Zeitschrift ;  and  the  article  Vorbild 
in  Herzog's  lieal-encyclopadie  hj  Tholuck;  Com- 
mentary on  Genesis,  p.  23  sqq.— [Kurtz,  Sacrificial 
Offerings  of  the  Old  Testament;  J.  Tye  Smith, 
Sacririce  and  Priesthood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  Magee, 
Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Atonement  and  Sacrifices; 
Outram,  Two  Dissertations  on  Sacrifices ;  Tiinluck, 
Appendix  to  Commentary  on  the  IlebTeu's.—Ta.] 

More  special  articles,  e.  g.  on  the  Decalogue, 
vid.  under  the  several  books. 


DOCTKINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


B.      SPECIAL    DOCTKINAL    KEMAKKS    ON    EXODUS. 

1.  The  Redemption  of  Israel,  or  the  Type  of 
Redemption  in  General. 
By  the  history  of  the  redemption  of  Israel  the 
Mosaic  legislation  is  connected  with  the  patri- 
archal religion  of  promise,  and  by  means  of  this 
alone  does  this  legislation  receive  its  proper 
position  and  meaning.  The  Mosaic  law,  too,  is 
founded  on  the  redemption,  as  is  expressly  de- 
clared in  the  introductory  clause  of  the  Deca- 
loirue;  and  it  is  a  Rabbinic  extravagance  to 
nilike'a  distinct,  commandment  out  of  the  open- 
inj-  words:  "I  am  Jehovah,  thy  God,"  etc.  A 
loreigu  code  of  laws  imposed  as  a  yoke  upon  a 
nation  without  any  intervention,  in  such  a  sense 
as  Hegel  and  others  conceive  the  Mosaic  law, 
would  be  only  despotic  constraint,  not  a  real 
law  in  the  spiritual  sense.  By  means  of  re- 
demption Jehovah  has  secured  for  Himself  the 
office  of  lawgiver  for  the  people  of  His  possession. 
By  means  of  the  redemption  He  has  established 
in  the  minds  of  all  the  people  the  confident  hope 
that  all  His  commandments,  even  those  that  for 
the  present  are  the  most  unintelligible,  are  the 
products  of  the  same  Spirit  that  redeems  and 
continues  the  redemption.  By  means  of  the 
redemption  Jehovah  has  liberated  the  people 
from  a  slavish  yoke  and  service,  in  order  to 
train  them  for  freedom  by  the  educational  influ- 
ence of  legal  compulsion  and  of  a  servile  condi- 
tion. Hence  all  the  main  features  in  the  guiding 
of  the  Israelites  to  Sinai  are  each  of  them  highly 
significant  types  in  illustration  of  the  idea  of 
redemption.  With  seeming  hopelessness  be- 
gins the  history  of  redemption.  The  wonder- 
ful deliverance  of  the  one  called  to  be  a  deliverer, 
the  unconscious  assistance  rendered  in  the  midst 
of  the  hostile  people  themselves,  the  flight  and 
concealment  of  Moses  in  Midian,  the  contest 
with  the  obduracy  of  the  tyrant,  and  even  wit! 
the  reluctance  and  unbelief  of  his  own  people 
the  long  anxious  waiting  for  the  decision,  th< 
final  breaking  away,  the  passage  through  the 
Ked  Sea,  the  further  miraculous  aid,  the  pilla 
of  cloud  and  fire,  the  friendship  of  Jethro  an( 
his  counsels; — all  these  things  are  found  re 
pealed  a  hundred  times  in  more  general  forms 
in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  ori- 
ginal redemption  of  Israel,  as  continued  through 
a  long  series  of  redemptive  acts,  is  the  type  of  the 
real  redemption  of  all  mankind  through  Christ, 
and  is  reflected  in  all  analogous  facts  until  the 
last  redemption  of  mankind  in  the  future  world. 
Jehovah  is  the  Goel  [redeemer]  of  His  people. 
Vid.  the  article  on  Erlomng  in  Herzog. 

On  the  dogmatic  significance  of  Moses  vid.  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  On  the  Passover,  vid. 
tne  dictionaries  and  Danz. 

2.  The  Law. 
The  law  of  Moses,  in  its  inmost  essence,  is  the 
objectified  conscience  of  man,  or  the  subjectified, 
humanized  will  of  God.  It  is  the  conscience 
primarily  of  the  patriarchs,  in  general,  however, 
of  humanity,  since  the  conscience  of  humanity 
is  aroused  and  awaked  to  actual  conscientious- 
ness in  the  elect  fathers  of  the  faith  that  rested 
on  the  promises.  It  is  the  divine  training-school 
(Gal.  iii.)  by  means  of  which  the  religion  of  the 


chosen  ones  is  made  the  religion  of  the  multi- 
tude of  the  Israelitish  people,  and  indirectly  of 
all  mankind.  It  is  the  educational  will  of  God, 
which  came  forth  out  of  the  inward  illumination 
of  the  lawgiver,  and  put  itself  into  the  form  of 
an  objective  writing  on  stone,  to  be  transformed 
again  in  due  time  from  the  stone  by  means  of  (he 
divine  guidance  into  the  writing  on  the  heart, 
the  law  of  the  Spirit,  vid.  Jer.  xxxi.  33. 

The  one  root  of  the  law  is  the  covenant  of  cir- 
cumcision, which  from  the  first  pointed  to  the 
circumcision,  the  regeneration,  of  the  heart. 
Dent.  X.  16;  xxx.  6.  Vid.  Comm.  on  Genesis, 
p.  4:;6.  The  law,  accordingly,  is  not  stationary, 
but  is  everywhere  a  movement  in  and  with  the 
legal  man  towards  regeneration  (vid.  Rom.  vii.); 
and  the  method  of  this  movement  is  sacrifice, 
the  fundamental  type  of  which  appears  in  the 
feast  of  the  Passover-lamb.  This  festival  looks, 
in  its  character  of  sin-offering,  peace-offering 
and  burnt-offering,  towards  a  process  of  spirit- 
ualizing the  law,  and  forms  a  contrast  to  the 
curse-offering. 

After  individual  foreshadowings  of  the  law 
(Ex.  XV.  26;  xvi.  29;  obedience,  the  Sabbath), 
follows  the  ethical  legislation  from  Mount  Sinai, 
described  to  us  as  a  sympathetic  excitement  of 
the  whole  people  caused  by  their  intercourse 
with  Moses.  The  manifestation  amidst  thunder 
and  lightning  was  to  be  interpreted  by  every 
conscience  according  to  its  attitude  towards 
Jehovah;  it  is  a  one-sided  conception  to  regard 
it  as  wholly  threat  and  terror  (Ps.  xxix.),  though 
it  has  primarily  this  effect  for  the  consciousness 
of  guilt  which  is  awakened  by  the  law. 

Jehovah's  legislation  is  progressive;  hence 
we  have  to  distinguish  a  legislation  of  Sinai — 
in  fact  a  two-fold  one,  owing  to  the  interruption 
occasioned  by  the  worship  of  the  golden  calf;  a 
legislation  of  Kadesh  (Dt.  xxxiii.  2) ;  a  legislation 
of  the  fields  of  Moab  (of  Seir?);  finally,  the  pro- 
phetic legislation  of  Deuteronomy— the  latter  as 
a  beginning  of  the  spiritualization  of  the  law. 

But  the  law  aims  at  no  one-sided  spirituality. 
It  demands  first  of  all  acts  of  commission  and 
omission  founded  on  an  inner  motive  as  a  train- 
ing to  spirituality  in  the  inner  life,  and  at  last 
again  spiritual  acts.  So  it  is  in  a  three-fold 
respect  a  type  of  the  fundamental  forms  of  the 
legal  aspects  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  viz.,  as 
being  a  barrier,  a  mirror,  and  a  rule. 

First  of  all,  the  law's  requirement  of  deeds 
must  not  be  t'oned  down.  Deeds  are  a  check 
upon  that  which  is  evil,  a  definition,  a  pic- 
ture, a  practice  of  that  which  is  good.  But 
the  law  as  a  mirror  is  the  training-master  to 
bring  to  Christ;  it  leads  to  a  deepening  of  the 
inner  life,  till  one  comes  to  the  hell  of  self-know- 
ledge (Rom.  vii.);  and  here  only  is  brought  to 
perfection  that  entire  receptivity  for  the  Gospel 
of  grace,  through  which  the  law  is  transformed 
into  a  fountain  of  spiritual  life. 

The  mistaken  view  respecting  acts,  that  the 
mere  act  is  all  that  is  needed,  is  the  root  of  Ju- 
daism, of  Pharisaic  self-righteousness,  though 
even  the  mere  doing  or  not  doing  has  its  value 
and  reward  in  the  outward  world,  especially  in 
the  regulations  of  social  life. 

The  mistaken  view  respecting  the  mirroring 
of  one's  self  in  the  law,  that  the  recognition  of 


sin  is  an  end  in  itself,  leads  to  the  deadening  of 
the  inner  life  in  self-depreciation,  quietism  and 
pietistic  self-torture. 

The  mistaken  view  respecting  the  law  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  spiritualism  which  tends  to  dissoci- 
ate itself  from  that  which  is  the  condition  of  it, 
viz.  consciousness  of  sin  and  faith  in  redempiion, 
and  which  more  or  less  decidedly  lapses  into 
antinomianism. 

The  unity  of  life  in  the  law  of  the  letter  is  a 
continual  movement,  which  leads  to  the  right- 
eousness of  faith,  and,  as  the  law  of  the  spirit, 
to  the  rigliteousnesa  of  the  life. 

On  the  abolition  of  the  law  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, comp.  the  Comm.  on  Matthew,  p.  109,  on 
Romans,  p.  137.  Abolished  as  regards  the  seve- 
rity, narrowness,  and  outwardness  of  the  letter, 
the  law  is  lifted  up  into  the  region  where  there 
is  no  limit  to  what  is  required  of  the  spirit  aad 
rendered  by  it. 

On  the  three  spheres  of  the  law  according  to 
its  primary  outline,  the  ethical,  the  ceremonial, 
and  the  civil,  as  they  are  distinctly  contrasted 
with  one  another  in  the  brief  outline,  vid.  the 
exegesis  in  point. 

In  a  more  general  form  the  three  books  are  to 
be  divided  throughout  according  to  these  three 
spheres  of  the  law. 

The  first  form  of  the  law  was  abolished,  as  to 
its  covenant  validity,  by  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calf  The  fact  that  Moses  broke  the 
tables  of  the  law,  is  an  eternal  repudiation  of 
image-worship,  because  this  worship  leads  to 
idolatry,  though  it  is  not  in  its  intention  direct 
idolatry.  The  relation  of  the  new  tables  of  the 
law  is  perhaps  this:  The  former  prohibit  the 
rudeness  and  hereditary  sinfulness  of  the  natu- 
ral life;  the  latter  prohibit,  with  that,  apos- 
tasy also,  and  constitute  therefore  for  the  apos- 
tate people  the  discipline  of  a  state  of  penitence, 
the  penalty  of  a  lay  condition,  the  disciplinary 
excommunication. 

On  the  analysis  of  the  law  vid.  p.  75. 
Treatises.  On  the  decalogue  vid.  Dum^Enct/clo- 
ptidie  und  Melhodologie,  p.  210,  Supplement,  p.  25; 
Otto,  Dekalogische  Uiiiersueltuwien,  Halle,  1857; 
Geffken,  Ueber  die  verschiedenen  Einlheilungen 
des  Dekalor/s,  Hamburg,  1838;  Stier,  Die  zehn 
Gebofe  in  Katechismus,  Barmen,  1858;  the  article 
Dekaloff  in  Herzog's  Real-enci/clopHdie.  Here  be- 
long the  discussions  of  this  topic  in  the  works  on 
biblical  theology,  in  the  older  works  on  dog- 
matics and  ethics,  and  in  the  catechisms. 

On  the  Sabbath  (or  Sunday)  in  particular, 
Hengstenb..  Ueber  den  Tag  des  Ilerrn,  Berlin,!  852 ; 
Wilhelmi,  Ueber  Feiertagsheilicjung,  Halle,  1857; 
Danz.  under  Sabbath  and  under  Sonntag ;  also  his 
article  Sonnlagsfeier'in  the  Supplement,  p.  99.  [Hes- 
sey,  Sunday,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1800;  Whately, 
Thoughts  on  the  Sabbalh ;  L.  Coleman,  in  Bibliotheca 
Sacra.Yn\.\.;  JohnS  S:\onsinTheol.  Eclectic,\o\. 
IV.;  ViiXey,  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy;  Mau- 
rice, On  the  Sabbath,  and  the  articles  in  Smith's 
Jj'ible  Dictionary,  and  Kitto's  Cyclopedia. — Tr.] 

3.  The  Tabernacle. 
The   tabernacle  is  not   mainly  the   meeting- 
house of  the  popular  congregation  (1J;'1"D  7ns), 
but  the  dwelling-place,  the  palace,  of  its  Lord; 


not,  therefore,  mainly  the  centre  of  worship,  but 
the  sanctuary  of  the  law  (nnj,'n  SnS).  In  the 
tabernacle  the  appearance  of  God,  and  with  it, 
so  to  speak,  Sinai,  remain  permanently;  hence  it 
is  the  place  where  the  people  are  lo  appear  before 
Jehovdh,  where  they  hear  the  testimony  of  His 
law,  and  bring  the  offering  of  self-surrender  in 
prayer  and  reconciliation.  For  this  reason, 
as  already  remarked,  the  picture  of  the  taber- 
nacle stands  in  Exodus,  not  in  Leviticus. 

The  holy  place  where  God  made  His  appear- 
ance is  originally  designated  only  by  a  stone 
monument  (Gen.  xxviii.  18);  then  it  is  artisti- 
cally represented  by  the  tabernacle,  which  was 
afterwards  transformed  into  the  temple.  But 
even  in  the  tabernacle  the  one  place  of  God's  reve- 
lation is  developed  into  a  gradual  succession  of 
revelations:  the  court;  the  holy  place,  the  ob- 
Jong  (as  an  incomplete  square) ;  and  the  Holy 
of  holies,  as  the  highest  form  of  the  sanctuary, 
square  form,  a  symbol  of  perfection. 


The  di 


the  first  ! 


tage, 


the  cour 


presented  by  the  sacred  limit,  the  screen  of  the 
sanctuary,  the  laver,  the  mirrors,  the  sacrificial 
death;  in  the  second,  by  the  seven-branched 
candlestick ;  in  the  third,  by  the  ark  of  the  law 
protected  by  the  cherubim.  Therewith  corre- 
sponds in  the  first  stage  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing, which  consumes  the  sacrifice  in  the  fire;  in 
the  second,  the  altar  of  incense,  over  which  the 
soul  of  the  offering  rises  upwards  in  prayer;  in 
the  third,  the  lid  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the 
lid  of  expiation,  of  re-union  with  Jehovah. — The 
benefits  which  God's  people  obtain  are,  in  the 
first  stage,  absolution  and  a  simple  blessing;  iu 
the  second  the  sacerdotal  communion  with  Jeho- 
vah at  the  table  of  shew-bread  ;  in  the  third,  the 
high-priestly  vision  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord — the 
whole  inuring  lo  the  benefit  of  the  people  in  the 
threefold  blessing  (Num.  vi.  23-26),  but  presup- 
posing a  threefold  advance  in  degrees  of  piety : 
obedience  and  confession;  prayer;  joyous  self- 
surrender  even  unto  death. 

As  to  the  materials  and  the  building  of  the 
tabernacle,  we  refer  to  the  exegetical  remarks, 
p.  151,  to  the  numerous  monographs,  and  to  the 
archaeological  and  lexical  descriptions. 

As  the  tabernacle  is,  on  the  one  hand,  a  type 
of  all  true  temples,  churches,  and  sanctuaries  on 
earth,  the  mother  of  the  greatest  cathedrals  and 
of  the  smallest  chapels,  so  is  it,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  being  instituted  by  Jehovah,  the  oppo- 
site of  all  self-chosen  forms  of  divine  service 
((■UtAodprjOKcia,  Col.  ii.  23),  idol  groves,  and  hide- 
ous systems  of  worship.  Among  the  several 
typical  features  are  especially  to  be  considered 
the  picture  of  the  tabernacle  as  seen  in  the  mount, 
or  the  ideal  plan  of  the  building;  the  vocation 
of  sacred  art  in  the  form  of  architecture  and  the 
art  of  making  symbolic  figures ;  the  grand  volun- 
tary contributions  of  the  people  for  the  sanc- 
tuary; and  the  glorious  festival  of  consecration. 
But  as  the  tabernacle  was  the  provisional  adum- 
bration of  the  temple  of  Solomon,  so  it  was, 
together  with  it,  an  adumbration  of  the  great 
dwelling-place  of  the  Lord  which  embraces  the 
heaven  of  heavens,  but  is  not  embraced  by  it  (1 
Kings  viii). 

For  works  on  the  tabernacle  vid.  p.  113. 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


SECOND  DIVISION:  HOMILETIC  HINTS. 


A.     GENERAL    HOMILETIC    REMARKS. 

First  of  all  is  to  be  noticed  the  fact  that  in  the 
ancient  church  the  three  books  of  the  law  were 
made,  by  the  help  of  allegorical  interpretation, 
an  important  means  of  Christian  edification.  As 
the  most  prominent  example  of  this,  Origen  is  to 
be  named. 

It  was  a  consequence  of  the  allegorical  style 
of  preaching,  that,  on  the  one  hand,  on  account 
of  the  unmistakable  uncertainty  and  caprice  of 
its  changing  hues,  it  could  not  but  weaken  the 
assurance  of  faith,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
could  not  but  occasion  a  large  deficiency  in  practi- 
cal ethics  resting  on  faith,  and  in  the  ethical  expo- 
sition of  Scripture.  This  evil  effect  has  bee?  espe- 
cially pointed  out  by  a  pious  and  sober  teacher 
of  pastoral  theology,  Peter  Roques,  Le  Pasteur 
Evangelique,  Basle,  1723.  He  even  traces  the 
corruption  of  the  Eastern  Church  largely  to  the 
moral  barrenness  of  the  fantastical  allegorical 
style  of  preaching. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  allegorical  mode 
of  explaining  the  Scriptures,  derived  from  the 
Alexandrian  theology,  was  in  existence  among 
the  Christians  even  at  the  time  of  the  origin  of 
the  N.  T.  Yet  we  must  make  a  radical  distinc- 
tion between  typical  and  allegorical  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Bible.  The  typology  of  the  N.  T.  may 
here  and  there,  especially  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  border  on  the  allegorical  method;  but 
this  method  itself  does  not  appear  distinctly  ex- 
cept in  the  extra-biblical  works,  e.  g.,  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  Abraham's  318  servants  in  the  Epis- 
tle of  Barnabas.* 

Yet  even  at  a  still  later  point  there  must  be  dis- 
tinguished among  the  apostolical  and  church  fa- 
■  thers  the  typical  from  the  allegorical  treatment 
of  the  Bible. 

But  after  the  allegorical  method  had  obtained 
theoretically  the  predominance,  one  fact  is  still 
to  be  considered,  to  which  the  rigid  advocates  of 
the  grammatico-historical  interpretation  do  not 
do  justice.  For  the  Middle  Ages  the  conception 
of  the  infinitely  rich  and  profound  contents  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  as  ideally  considered  could 
be  gained  only  by  the  allegorical  way.  The 
simple  light  had  to  be  broken  in  the  prism  of 
the  Middle  Ages  into  the  colors  of  the  sevenfold 
sense  of  Scripture. 

Nevertheless  the  homiletic  use  of  allegory  in 
reference  to  the  books  now  under  consideration 
was  very  much  limited  by  the  prevalence  of  the 
custom  of  observing  the  peiicopes  as  well  as  by 
the  saints'  days;  and  this  limitation  has  con- 
tinued, on  account  of  the  pericopes,  to  affect  the 


*  [Tliis  wafl  thns  interpreted :  318  ia  made  up  of  10  represent- 
ed by  the  Greek  letter  t,  8  represented  i.y  jj.  and  300  represent- 
ed by  T.  The  first  two  letters  ii)  stand  for  Iiicrou9,  and  the  last 
represeots  the  form  of  the  cross. — Tr.  ] 


Lutheran  church.  But  it  was  otherwise  with 
homilelics  in  the  Reformed  church,  and  with 
the  mystic  edification  derived  from  the  reading 
of  the  Bible ;  it  was  not  held  in  check  by  the 
pericopes,  but  rather  set  itself  in  opposition  to 
that  constraint;  and  that  the  Reformed  churches 
were  fond  of  Old  Testament  texts  is  accounted 
for  by  this  fact  in  part,  and  not  simply  by  their 
conception  of  the  Bible  as  a  code  of  laws,  and  by 
the  fact  "that  the  Reformed  Pietism  was  more 
fantastic  than  its  Lutheran  brother"  (Diestel, 
Geschkhte  de.s  Alien  Testaments  in  der  christUchen 
Eirche,  p.  774).  It  may  indeed  be  assumed  that 
the  allegorical  style  of  preaching  in  the  Re- 
formed church  was  in  great  part  provoked  by 
the  Lutheran  mystics  and  commentators. 

When  the  homiletic  use  of  allegorical  exposi- 
tion began  to  run  into  absurdities  [vid.  exam- 
ples in  Lentz),  it  also  gradually  fell  into  con- 
demnation— a  process  which  began  with  the  time 
of  the  Reformation.  That  it  nevertheless  was 
able  to  maintain  itself  so  long  after  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  so  often  seemingly  to  become  rejuve- 
nated, was  due  to  its  connection  with  a  mysti- 
cism which  was  full  of  life,  and  to  its  repugnance 
to  the  dryness  of  dogmatic  formulas.  But 
more  especially  its  life  was  due  to  a  dim  feeling 
(misconstrued,  it  is  true)  of  the  peculiarity  of 
the  symbolical  side  of  the  Biblical  style,  as  op- 
posed to  the  extreme  orthodox  and  the  radical 
tendency  to  reduce  it  all  to  a  purely  abstract 
literalism. 

Works  on  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures. 
Whitby,  Vissertatio  de  sacrarum  scriplurarum 
interpretatione,  etc.  London,  1714;  Schuler, 
Oeschichte  der  populiiren  Schrifterkliirung  unter 
den  Christen  von  dem  Anfang  des  Christenthums  bis 
avf  die  gegenwdrtigen  Zeiten.  Tiibingen,  1787;  J. 
G.  Rosenmiiller,  Historia  Interpretalionis  librorum 
sacrorum  in  ecclesia  Christiana;  Meyer,  Oeschichte 
der  Schrifterkliirung  seit  der  Wiederherstellung  der 
Wissenschaften,  Gottingen,  1802  (in  the  Introduc- 
tion a  condensed  survey  of  the  history  of  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  church  till  the  15th  century); 
Mogelin,  Die  allegorische  Bibelauslegung,  besonders 
in  der  Predigt,  historisch  und  didaklisch  betrachtet, 
Nurnberg,  1844  ;  Elster,  de  medii  levi  theologia 
extgetica,  Gottingen,  1855;  Lentz,  Oeschichte  der 
christUchen  Homiletik,  Brunswick,  1839;  Ludwig, 
Ueber  die  praklische  Auslegung  der  heiligen  Schrift, 
Frankfort,  1859.— Among  the  general  commen- 
taries the  Berleburg  Bible,  as  an  allegorizing 
one,  especially  belongs  here.  A  very  prominent 
allegorist  was  Madame  Guyon  (vid.  the  article  in 
Herzog).  Diestel,  Oeschichte  des  Allen  Testaments 
in  der  christUchen  Kirche.—A  list  of  writings  on 
hermeneutics  is  given  in  Hagenbach's  Encyclo- 
pSdie.  p.  174  sqq.  See  also  the  article  Eerme- 
neulik  in  Herzog's  Realencycloptidie ;  the  Comm. 
on  Genesis,  p.  101;  Winer,  iJeaHeiicoH,  II.,  p.  115 


1C8 


eqq.  [Marsh,  Lectures  on  the  Criticism  and  Tiiter- 
pretatiun  of  the  Bible;  Davidson,  Sacred  Uerme- 
neutics:  Fairbairn,  Hermeneutical  Manual;  Im- 
mer,  Hermeneutik,  a  translation  of  which  will 
soon  appear  from  the  press  of  W.  F.  Draper, 
Andover. — Tr.] 

B.     SPECIAL    nOMILETIC    REMARKS    ON    EXODUS. 

I.   The  Redemption  and  the  Bringing  of  the 
People  to  Sinai. 

1.   The  Significance  of  the  People  of  Israel,  particu- 

larli/  of  the  Tribes  in  reference  to  the  Kingdom  of 

God. 

The  rise  of  the  people  of  Israel  in  bondage, 
and  the  redemption  running  parallel  with  it, 
also  a  type.  A  miniature  picture  of  humanity. 
— Egypt  in  its  two-fold  form:  a  refuge  of  the 
founders  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  first 
anti-theocratic  power.  Repeated  in  the  general 
history  of  the  world. — Moses'  leadership  in  its 
theocratic  siguiiicanoe.  Even  Moses,  the  medi- 
ator of  the  law  and  of  the  restricted  Jewish  eco- 
nomy, had  to  receive  a  preparatory  training  in 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians. — Moses  and 
the  other  children,  exposed  and  apparently  lost, 
who  have  become  great  men  in  the  world's  his- 
tory, especial  monuments  of  divine  Providence 
(Cyrus,  Romulus,  Christ). — The  epochs  of  reve- 
lation and  the  periods  of  the  history  of  revela- 
tion, or  the  intervals  in  the  revelation,  are  care- 
fully to  be  noticed.  For  us  the  epochs  of  reve- 
lation blend  into  one  on  account  of  the  unity  of  the 
Bible  and  of  Biblical  history.  In  reality,  however, 
they  are  separated  by  great  intervals.     That  is: 

From  Adam  to  Noah; 

From  Noah  to  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob ; 

From  Jacob  to  Moses; 

From  Moses  and  Joshua  to  Samuel  (only  spo- 
radically interrupted); 

From  David  to  Elijah  and  Elisha; 

From  that  time  to  the  Messianic  prophets  ; 

From  Malachi  to  John  the  Baptist  and  Christ. 

2.  Moses. 
In  Moses'  life  the  wisdom  of  the  divine  train- 
ing is  disclosed,  and  particularly  in  the  contrast 
between  his  own  impulsive  effort  to  redeem  his 
people  and  his  divine  calling. — The  high  signi- 
ficance of  the  school  of  solitary  life  in  the  wil- 
derness (Abraham,  Moses,  Elijah,  Christ;  analo- 
gies: the  monks  even,  Mohammed,  Jacob  Bohm, 
Fox  the  Quaker). — The  burning  and  yet  not  con- 
sumed thorn-bush,  an  allegorical  phenomenon 
of  revelation,  whose  interpretation  can  be  con- 
demneil  on  the  ground  of  its  being  allegorical 
only  from  a  misunderstanding. — The  name  of 
Jehovah  could  not  get  its  specific  significance 
for  Israel  as  the  name  of  the  faithful  covenant- 
God  continually  reappearing,  until  the  second 
principal  revelation  of  the  covenant-God,  even 
though  it  was  known  before.  So  the  term  "justi- 
fication" was  known  in  the  Church  from  the 
New  Testament  itself,  but  first  received  its  spe- 
cific signification  through  the  Reformation. — 
If  it  was  known  that  the  God  who  revealed  Him- 
self as  Deliverer  to  Moses  had  also  been  the  God 
of  Abraliam,  I  lien  il  was  also  known  that  He 
would  show  Himself  in  all  future  time  as  a  God 


of  deliverance  (when  the  mathematicianjhas  two 
points  beyond  him,  he  can  also  fix  the  third). — 
The  declaration:  "I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob,"  contains  in  fact  tbe  most  deci- 
sive argument  for  immortality,  much  as  it  has 
been  misunderstood  (yid.  Comm.  on  Matthew 
xsii.  32). — The  stern  rebuke  of  the  neglect  of 
circumcision  a  hard  problem  for  the  Baptists. 
For  it  is  not  true  that  circumcision  for  the  Jews 
was  merely  a  national  custom;  it  was  for  them, 
as  a  religious  institution,  the  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant, a  sacrament.  And,  as  such,  a  typical  pro- 
mise of  regeneration,  imposing  an  obligation 
(Deut.  X.  16;  xxx.  6).— Connection  between 
God's  wrath  and  man's  death  (vid.  tbe  article 
Zorn  in  Herzog's  ReaUncyclofddie).  After  the 
miracles  of  the  tbeocracy  have  been  heralded  by 
the  name  El  Shaddai  [God  Almighty]  and  the 
birth  of  Israel,  they  now  appear  as  the  media 
of  the  redemption  of  Israel.  By  two  or  three 
features  they  are  from  the  outset  distinguished 
from  magical  occurrences  —  by  natural  sub- 
strata, prophetic  presentiment  and  a  symbolic  re- 
pres'entation  ;  but  they  yet  remain,  as  divine  acts 
serving  the  purpose  of  credentials,  judgment, 
and  deliverance,  forever  above  the  sphere  of  the 
extraordinary,  the  wonderful.  They  are  the 
new  exploits  of  God,  which  come  in  conuecliou 
with  a  new  word,  and  herald  a  new  lime  of  sal- 
vation {vid.  more  on  the  parallel  miracles  in  my 
Life  of  Christ). 

3.  Moses  and  Aaron. 
The  fact  is  often  repeated  in  the  world,  and  so 
too  in  the  kingdom  of  God,   that  the  great  cha- 
racter is  not  a  great  orator,  and  the  great  orator 
not  a  great  character. 

4.  Pharaoh. 
God's  message  to  Pharaoh:  "Let  my  people 
go,  that  they  may  serve  me,"  has  been  delivered 
by  the  command  of  God's  Spirit  at  many  hie- 
rarchical sees  and  royal  courts,  e.g.  at  the  court 
of  Louis  XIV.;  and  He  will  everywhere  conti- 
nue to  deliver  it  where  necessary.  Pharaoh's 
obduracy  is  primarily  his  own  fault,  secondarily 
a  judgment  divinely  inflicted  {vid.  Comm.  on 
Romans,  chaps,  ix.-xi.). — The  preservation  of 
Pharaoh,  who,  considered  by  himself,  would 
long  before  have  been  destroyed  by  tbe  Egyptian 
plague  of  the  pestilence,  is  due  to  his  connection 
with  the  history  of  the  people  of  God;  the 
real  good  of  the  pious  does  not  demand  that  their 
oppressors  be  at  once  destroyed,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  that  they  be  preserved  a  while  till  a 
certain  goal  is  reached.  They  are,  so  to  speak, 
set  up  for  the  very  purpose  of  glorifying  in  them 
the  name  of  God,  by  the  final  judgment  inflicted 
on  their  arrogance.  If  they  will  not  glorify 
God's  name  freely,  consciously  and  directly,  then 
they  must  be  instrumental  in  glorifying  it  against 
their  will,  unconsciously  and  indirectly  (Romans 
ch.  ix.).  Comp.  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon  and  Klop- 
stook's  Messiah  on  the  condemnation  of  tyrants. 

5.   The  Egyptian  Plagues. 

The  Egyptian  plages  are  typical,  living  repre- 

sentatives  of  all  the  judgments  of  God  in  history, 

(1)  in  their  complete  number,  ten,  the  number 

of  the  entire  course  of  the  world  ;  (2j  ia  their 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


169 


intermittent  rhythm,  ascending  from  the  light- 
est infliction  to  the  heaviest;  (3)  in  the  miracu- 
lous augmentation  of  natural  calamities  pecu- 
liar to  the  earth  and  the  country,  and  in  the 
connection  of  these  with  the  movements  of  the 
world  of  mind,  the  joyful  testimonies  of  the 
pious,  the  bad  conscience  and  horror  of  the 
godless:  (4)  in  the  correspondence  between 
the  sudden  precipitation  of  the  crises  of  tlie 
earth's  physical  history,  and  that  of  the  crises 
of  the  liingdom  of  God ;  (5)  in  the  exalted 
symbolic  form  of  God's  deeds  in  sacred  his- 
tory. The  false  miracles  by  which  the  Egyp- 
tian sorcerers  sought  to  neutralize  the  ett'ect 
of  Moses'  miracles  have  their  reflex  in  the  most 
various  forms  even  in  New  Testament  times 
and  in  the  history  of  the  Church  (2  Tim.  iii.  8). 
So  Julian  instituted  an  anti-Christian  order  of 
preachers  and  similar  things.  So  in  modern 
times  the  itinerant  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the 
church-holidays,  and  religious  associations  have 
been  imitated  in  one  direction  and  another.  But 
the  unholy  imitations  can  never  keep  pace  with 
the  holy  originals. — This,  too,  remains  true  in  the 
spiritual  world,  that  God's  plagues  as  such  are 
limited  entirely  to  the  enemies  of  His  people. — 
The  institution  of  the  Passover-meal  on  the  night 
of  Egypt's  terror  is  a  type  of  the  institution  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  momentous  night  of 
the  betrayal  of  Christ.  This  lofty  festival  of 
victory  in  the  midst  of  the  terrors  of  death  and 
of  the  abyss  is  one  of  the  most  unmistakable 
of  God's  grand  thoughts  of  love  and  of  peace, 
and  would  never  have  been  conceived,  still  less 
carried  out,  by  the  selfish  heart  of  man. 

6.  The  Passover. 
In  the  Passover  all  the  forms  of  offering  are 
concentrated  and  explained.  First,  it  takes  the 
place  of  the  curse-offering,  the  hherem,  which 
was  inflicted  on  the  Egyptian  first-born ;  secondly, 
it  is  a  sin-ofl'ering  made  by  the  act  of  sprinkling 
the  blood,  by  which  the  door  is  marked  with  the 
divine  direction,  "Pass  over,"  for  the  angel  of 
destruction ;  thirdly,  however,  it  is  most  emphati- 
cally a  peace-oB'ering,  as  being  the  Old  Testa- 
ment eucharist,  for  which  reason  also  the  passo- 
ver  was  slain  by  all  the  heads  of  houses,  and 
eaten  by  all  the  inmates  of  the  house;  finally,  it 
is  made  complete,  as  a  burnt-offering,  in  the  burn- 
ing of  all  the  parts  which  are  left  over  from  the 
sacred  meal. — On  the  significance  of  carrying 
away  the  silver  and  gold  articles,  vid.  Comm.  on 
Genesis,  p.  83.  In  every  great  judicial  crisis  a 
part  of  the  goods  of  this  world,  or  of  a  spiritual 
Egypt,  falls  to  the  people  of  God,  as,  e.g.,  at  the 
time  of  Constantine,  the  time  of  the  Reformation, 
and  other  times; — not  by  cheating  and  robbery, 
but  through  mental  agitation ;  agitated  souls  cast 
it  into  the  hands  of  the  representatives  of  the 
victorious  spirit. 

7.  The  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread. 
Together  with  the  Passover  is  instituted  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread,  characterized,  on  the 
one  hand,  as  a  denunciation  of  the  world,  and, 
on  the  other,  as  a  renunciation  of  worldliness,  or 
voluntary  abstinence  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord. 
This  does  not  make  leaven  as  such  a  symbol  of 


evil  (vid.  Comm.  on  Matt.  xiii.  33),  but  it  makes 
the  leaven  which  is  qualified  by  some  reference 
to  the  world  (the  Egyptians,  the  Pharisees,  e(c.), 
a  symbol  of  the  contagious  and  overpowering  in- 
fluence of  participation  in  an  injurious  enjoy- 
ment. As  the  Passover  feast  obligates  to  a  tem- 
porary festival  of  unleavened  bread,  so  the  Lord's 
Supper  obligates  to  a  permanent  avoidance  of 
ruinous  associations. — Participation  in  the  Pass- 
over is  conditioned  on  circumcision  ;xii.  48); 
and  a  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  on  the 
rite  of  baptism. — The  religious  education  of  the 
young  has  from  the  outset  a  connection  with  the 
sacraments  (xiii.  14),  and  finds  itself  at  once 
enjoined,  whenever  a  religious  congregation  is 
formed. — To  guide  the  weak  young  congregation 
of  God  through  the  wilderness  is  safer  than  to 
guide  them  through  the  land  of  the  Philistines. 
Here  is  figuratively  represented  the  import  of 
asceticism  (xiii.  17,  18). 

8.  Joseph's  Bones. 
A  boundary  line  between  the  theocracy  and 
the  world  is  formed  not  only  by  the  sacraments 
and  feasts,  but  also  by  the  consecrated  burial. 
So  the  church-yard  has  also  ita  ecclesiastical 
significance.  But  as  the  political  community 
has  a  part  in  the  bells  in  the  tower,  so  also  in  a 
church-yard  as  God's  field,  and  only  Christian 
wisdom,  not  fanaticism,  can  correctly  apprehend 
the  distinction. 

9.  The  Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire. 
As  the  same  pillar  over  the  sanctuary  is  a  pil- 
lar of  cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night, 
so  it  stands  now  before  the  host  as  a  sacred  van- 
guard, now  behind  them  as  a  protecting  rear- 
guard separating  Israel  from  the  pursuing  ene- 
my. To  this  divine  separation  of  Israel  from  the 
world,  following  the  sacramental  separations,  is 
next  added  the  great  actual  separation  by  means  of 
the  Red  Sea.  It  is  a  double  protection  for  the  con- 
gregation of  God,  that  not  only  the  congregation 
is  hidden  from  the  pursuing  worldly  power,  but 
also  the  frightful  equipments  of  this  power  are 
in  great  part  hidden  from  the  congregation  by 
the  miraculous  phenomenon  of  the  pillar  of  cloud 
and  fire.  By  day  the  pillar  of  cloud  is  more 
visible  than  the  fiery  pillar;  by  night  the  fire  is 
more  visible  than  the  cloudy  pillar.  When  one 
walks  in  the  light  of  knowledge,  he  needs  to  be 
made  secure  by  the  symbolical  obscurity  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  church ;  when  one  walks  through 
the  night  of  temptation,  he  is  made  secure  by  the 
fiery  tokens  of  the  animating  presence  of  the 
Lord. — The  policy  of  falsehood,  of  selfishness, 
of  arrogance,  and  of  treachery,  has  plunged  more 
than  one  Pharaoh  into  destruction  from  the  ear- 
liest times  down  to  the  history  of  Buonaparte. 

10.  The  Red  Sea. 
In  their  extreme  distress  the  Israelites  cast 
themselves  in  view  of  the  oppressors  into  the  Red 
Sea,  but  do  so  at  the  bidding«f  God  and  of  the  rod 
of  Moses.  Here,  too,  the  natural  substratum  is  to 
be  taken  together  with  the  divine  deed.  (Ex.  xiv. 
21 ;  Ps.  cvi.  9).  The  terrestrial  crisis  is  united 
with  the  crisis  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  Moses' 
prophetic  spirit  with  his  symbolic  miraculous 


agency.  The  Red  Sea  stands  midway  between 
the  deluge  (1  Pet.  iii.  20)  and  baptism  (1  Cor.  x. 
2).  In  all  three  cases  the  redemption  of  the  new 
man  is  eifected  through  judgment  on  the  old; 
there  takes  place  a  separation,  by  means  of  which 
the  destructible  part  falls  a  prey  to  real  or  appa- 
rent destruction,  and  the  salvable  part  is  trans- 
ferred to  a  condition  of  life  and  salvation.  The 
first  separation  constitutes  a  universal  historical 
type,  and  in  its  magnitude,  as  the  destruction  of 
the  first  world  (in  a  sense  also  as  a  sequel  of  the 
catastrophes  of  creation),  points  to  the  second  and 
third  separations,  but  also  beyond  them  to  the 
last  great  separation  at  the  end  of  the  world.  The 
second  separation  is  a  theocratic  typical  institu- 
tion, which  makes  the  Jews  Israelites;  the  third 
constitutes  a  symbolic  and  real  dividing  line  be- 
tween the  church  and  the  world,  and,  in  so  far 
as  it  is  inwardly  expressed  and  realized,  be- 
tween the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  kingdom  of 
darkness.  The  seeming  downfall  of  the  chufch 
of  God  is  .always  succeeded  by  a  higher  rise,  as 
the  seeming  triumph  of  the  power  of  darkness 
indicates  its  actual  overthrow. 

11.  Th»  Song  of  Moses. 
The  song  of  Moses  is  the  first  form  of  reli- 
gious service  in  the  church  of  God,  proceeding 
from  the  experience  of  the  first  miraculous  typi- 
cal redemption,  and  hence  is  of  perpetual  signi- 
ficance for  all  worship  celebrating  redemption 
and  for  all  songs  up  to  the  last  redemption  at 
the  end  of  the  world  (Rev.  xv.  3).  The  Old  Tes- 
tament is  acquainted  with  two  great  redemptive 
facts :  the  redemption  out  of  the  bondage  in 
Egypt,  and  out  of  the  Babylonish  captivity;  the 
New  Testament  proclaims  the  two  greatest:  the 
primal  redemption  accomplished  by  Christ,  and 
the  final  one  iu  the  other  world  which  He  will 
accomplish  at  His  appearing.  It  is  noticeable 
that  in  the  song  of  Moses  the  attribute  of  God's 
holiness  is  for  the  first  time  celebrated  together 
■with  others.  This  indicates  the  early  origin  of  the 
Eong,  and  particularly  the  period  of  holiness, 
which  from  this  time  on  becomes  Jehovah's  most 
characteristic  attribute;  the  attribute  of  justice, 
which  predominates  more  at  a  later  time,  here 
appears  only  incidentally,  as  it  were,  in  a  con- 
fession of  sin  on  Pharaoh's  part.  The  freedom 
which  even  in  the  Old  Testament  appears  in  its 
first  free  form  of  worship,  in  spite  of  its  re- 
straints, is  especially  evidenced  by  the  fe- 
male choir,  which  Miriam  leads,  particulai-ly 
by  the  instrumental  music  of  the  tambou- 
rines, and  even  the  festive  dance.  What  a  sorry 
spectacle  certain  restrictions  in  the  worship  of 
the  old  Reformed  Church  present  by  the  side  of 
this,  while  yet  that  church  professes  to  be  of  an 
eminently  New  Testament  type. 

12.  TVie  First  Stopping-places. 
The  first  encampment  of  the  children  of  Israel 
by  tlie  twelve  fountains  and  under  the  seventy 
palm-trees  at  Elim  makes,  with  Moses'  triumphal 
song  after  the  deliverance,  one  whole.  But  a 
preliminary  goal  reached  in  the  way  of  salvation 
heralds  a  new  contest.  The  great  weakness  of 
the  new  congregation  is  displayed  in  the  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  those  rich  experiences  of  deli- 


verance, as  soon  as  they  begin  to  suffer  want, 
they  begin  again  to  murmur.  But  just  because 
the  congregation  is  so  young  and  so  weak, 
Jehovah  is  indulgent  towards  them,  and  presents 
them  in  the  wilderness  of  Sin  with  the  miracu- 
lous bread  of  manna  (the  gift  of  quails  seems 
here  to  be  anticipated,  xvi.  13),  and  at  Rephidim 
with  water  from  the  rock.  Both  facts  are  closely 
related  to  one  another  and  to  the  foregoing  pas- 
sage through  the  Red  Sea.  At  a  later  time 
Jehovah  cannot  exercise  the  same  indulgence 
towards  the  old  and  more  experienced  company 
when  they  murmur  in  like  manner;  even  Moses' 
subtle  error  is  now  severely  punished  (Num.  xi. 
31  sqq. ;  xx.  1  sqq.).  Repetition  in  the  divine 
training  of  children  is  no  more  a  tautology  than 
in  the  human  training  of  them. 

13.  Amalek  and  Jelhro. 
The  first  war  of  the  Israelites  is  a  war  of  de- 
fence against  the  Amalekites;  but  the  victory 
depends  on  three  forces:  the  people's  recent 
experience  of  deliverance,  Moses'  intercession, 
and  Joshua's  generalship  (vid.  my  pamphlet, 
Vom  Krieg  und  vom  Sieg).  Amalek  thus  becomes 
a  type  of  the  anti-theocratic  worldly  spirit,  as 
Egypt  was  before  (xvii.  10).  But  that  there  are 
two  kinds  of  heathenism,  and  accordingly  a  two- 
fold relation  of  the  people  of  God  to  it,  is  shown 
by  the  deportment  of  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in- 
law  and  a  Midianite  priest,  as  compared  with 
Amalek.  He  has  kept  Moses'  wife  and  sons  iu 
his  charge  during  Moses'  mission  in  Egypt;  he 
brings  them  to  him  now,  and  rejoices  in  Israel's 
redemption  and  God's  great  deeds  with  hearty 
sympathy ;  nay,  his  confession  that  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  is  above  all  the  gods  is  enough  even  to 
warrant  Aaron  and  the  elders  in  holding  reli- 
gious communion  with  him  ;  they  eat  bread  with 
him  before  God,  as  also  Moses  at  the  very  first 
had  received  him  with  reverence  and  cordiality 
— a  circumstance  fitted  to  put  to  shame  those 
Christians  who  like  to  seek  for  the  essence  of 
communion  in  the  excommunication  which  is 
appended  to  it.  Nay,  the  great  law-giver  even 
adopts  at  the  suggestion  of  this  Midianitish  priest 
a  reform  (xviii.  13  sqq.),  which,  as  being  a  tes- 
timony of  superior  human  reason  against  the 
dangers  of  a  one-sided  centralization  in  govern- 
ment, even  significantly  precedes  the  giving  of 
the  law  itself. 


Thus  the  congregation  has  come  to  Sinai,  and 
here  the  people  are  summoned  to  enter,  by  means 
of  a  voluntary  covenant  with  Jehovah,  into  a 
peculiar  relation  to  Him,  to  become  Jehovah's 
people  under  His  theocracy.  Here  now  the 
sacred  history  itself  stands  clearly  opposed  to  a 
series  of  distortions  of  it.  In  the  first  place,  we 
see  that  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Sinai  is  not  the 
beginning  of  the  Old  Testament;  Israel,  rather, 
came  to  Sinai  as  a  typical,  consecrated  people, 
in  whose  rise  and  redemption  Jehovah  has  pro- 
visionally fulfilled  the  promise  given  to  Abra- 
ham (vid.  Gal.  iii.  15  sqq.).  Secondly,  we  see 
that  the  people  were  by  no  means  involuntarily 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


made  slaves  under  the  law  (as  Hegel  con- 
oeives).  Thirdly,  we  see  that  even  the  rigorous 
fencing  off  of  the  lofty  mountain,  the  thunder 
and  ligbtning,  and  the  cloud  on  tlie  mountain, 
are  not  to  be  pronounced  so  one-sidedly  a  mani- 
festation of  Jehovah's  angry  jealousy  as  was 
often  done  by  tlie  older  theologians,  and  as  was 
charged  upon  the  Old  Testament  in  gross  carica- 
tures in  the  rationalistic  period.  Even  Deutero- 
nomy has  presented  a  more  catholic,  free,  and, 
one  may  say,  New  Testament  view  of  the  mani- 
festation of  the  divine  majesty,  power,  and  holi- 
ness which  encompasses  the  origin  of  the  law, 
and  which  is  continually  to  attend  it  in  its 
sway  (Deut.  xxxiii.  1-3).  As  to  the  covenant 
(which  is  not  merely  an  institution,  as  Hofmann 
holds),  there  should  be  specially  noticed  the 
repeated  questions  put  to  the  people  and  their 
answers  of  assent  (xix.  7,  8;  xxiv.  3).  The 
revelation  of  Jehovah's  holiness  in  order  to  the 
sanctification  of  Israel  to  be  His  people  makes 
Mount  Sinai  a  symbolic  sanctuary.  This  is 
expressed  by  the  mountain's  being  made  in- 
accessible to  men  and  beasts  (chap.  xix.  12 
eqq  ).  Even  the  priests  must  not  be  in  haste 
to  pass  the  boundary  (ver.  24).  With  the 
holy  place  is  connected  a  holy  time  of  three 
days,  and  for  the  consecration  of  this  time  there 
are  also  special  prescriptions.  There  is  deve- 
loped further  on  a  two-fold  distinction  of  degree: 
the  people  remain  in  the  valley;  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  seventy  elders  cele- 
brate the  feast  of  the  covenant  on  the  slope  of 
the  mountain;  Moses  alone  loses  himself  in  the 
darkness  of  the  summit  (xxiv.  9  sqq. ).  So  high 
does  the  prophetic  here  stand  above  the  priestly 
office. 

15.  The  Oiving  of  the  Law. 
The  legislation  on  the  mountain  is  to  be  divided 
into  three  groups.  The  first  is  the  law  as  an 
outline,  as  the  summary  of  the  words  of  the  law; 
the  second  is  the  law  as  legislation  (xxiv.  12  — 
xxxi.  18) ;  the  third  is  a  modified  restoration  of 
the  law.  and  the  fixing  of  it  by  means  of  the 
building  of  Ihe  tabernacle  (to  the  end  of  Exo- 
dus). The  first  group  comprises  the  whole  law 
in  its  outlines  ;  and  the  division  into  three  parts, 
moral  law  (xx.  1-17),  ritual  and  sacrificial  law 
(XX.  18-26),  and  civil  law  (xxi.  1— xxiii.  33), 
appears  distinctly.  This  group  is  concluded  by 
the  ratification  of  the  covenant  (xxiv.  1-11). 
Before  ihe  covenant  was  concluded,  the  law  was 
enacted  onli/  in  oral  words;  not  till  after  the  cove- 
nant was  concluded  was  it  written  on  the  tables 
of  stone;  and  not  till  then  could  the  building  of 
the  tabernacle  be  ordered,  as  the  place  where 
tlie  stone-tables  were  to  remain,  and  where 
Jehovah  was  to  be  enthroned;  for  Jehovah  can 
dwell  as  a  covenant-God  only  among  a  people 
that  have  voluntarily  surrendered  themselves  to 
Him.  But  the  tabernacle  is  not  simply  a  temple 
or  place  of  sacrifice;  it  is  likewise,  and  first  of 
all,  the  palace  of  tlie  King  Jehovah,  the  central 
place  for  all  the  three  groups  of  laws,  the  place 
of  the  covenant  and  of  the  meetings  between 
Jehovah  and  the  people.  This  legislation  re- 
quires Moses  to  remain  forty  days  on  the  moun- 
tain. But  the  people  cannot  endure  this  invisi- 
bility of  their  religion,  and  make  themselves  the 


golden  calf  for  their  symbolic  sanctuary.  Thus 
a  restoration  of  the  law  becomes  necessary, 
through  (1)  a  great  expiation,  (2)  a  severe 
modification,  (3)  the  actual  erection  of  a  visible 
sanctuary,  the  tabernacle. 


II.    TJie  Outline  of  ihe  Law. 

1.  The  Ethical  Law  in  Outline.  Ch.  xx.  1-17. 
Here  is  concentrated  a  heavenly  fulness  of 
divine  thoughts,  hence  also  an  immense  treasure 
of  expositions,  an  account  of  which  is  given  la 
the  commentaries,  theological  systems,  cate- 
chisms, sermons,  and  hymns.  The  law  of  the 
ten  commandments  is  to  be  considered  in  its 
relations  to  the  natural  law  of  the  conscience 
(Rom.  ii.)  and  to  the  law  of  the  Spirit  (Rom. 
viii.),  especially  as  a  transition  from  the  one  to 
the  other.  Analytically  and  literally  considered, 
the  law  is  incomplete  (2  Cor.  iii. ;  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews),  especially  in  the  hands  of  human  ad- 
ministrators; as  a  type  of  the  law  of  the  Spirit, 
it  is  complete — the  description  of  man  as  he 
should  be,  of  humanity,  of  the  living  image  of 
Christ.  Analytically  considered,  it  is  predomi- 
nantly educational ;  symbolically  considered,  it 
is  an  outline  of  Christian  ethics.  That  it  is 
a  law  for  the  inner  life  appears  unmistaka- 
bly in  the  preface,  as  also  in  the  first,  se- 
cond, and  tenth  commandments,  but  especially 
in  the  law:  "Thou  shalt  not  covet"  {vid. 
Comm.  on  Rom.  vii.).  As  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  legislation,  it  is  divided  into  laws  that  are 
predominantly  religious  or  ceremonial,  and  laws 
that  relate  predominantly  to  social  or  moral 
life — a  proof  that  it  itself,  as  being  the  theo- 
cratic doctrine  of  life,  or  outline  of  rules  for 
the  sanctification  of  personal  life,  comprises  the 
elements  of  dogmatics  and  ethics.  In  its  practi- 
cal application.  Christian  dogmatics  has  rightly 
ascribed  to  it  three  uses,  of  which  the  first 
[usus  eivilis]  is  permanent  in  the  Christian 
state,  tlie  third  \_usus  normativus~\  is  permanent 
in  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  second  [m»«s 
elenchticus']  declares  the  permanent  connection 
between  the  other  two.  The  integrity  of  the 
ten  commandments  must  be  maintained  with  all 
earnestness.  The  prohibition  of  images  is  by 
no  means  a  mere  prohibition  of  idols;  the  com- 
mand respecting  the  Sabbath  is  by  no  means 
merely  identical  with  the  ceremonial  law  of 
Leviticus;  it  is  an  imperishable  law  of  humanity 
as  much  as  is  the  law:  "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 
.■\s  to  Ihe  division  into  two  tables,  the  enumera- 
tion of  the  commandments,  Ihe  distinction  be- 
tween the  prohibitions  in  the  commandments, 
and  the  commandments  in  the  prohibitions,  the 
reduction  of  the  ten  commandmenis  to  two  fun- 
damental ones  (Matt.  xxii.  38),  and  of  the  two 
to  one  (llom.  xiii.  10;  James  ii.  10),  we  refer  to 
the  appropriate  theological  discussions,  only 
remarking  farther,  that  as  early  as  in  Deutero- 
nomy the  spirilualization  of  the  ten  command- 
ments, in  Ihe  direction  of  Ihe  prophets,  is  begun. 
We  may  also  refer  to  the  feature  presented  in 
an  exegetical  view  of  the  narrative,  that  Moses, 
when  Ihe  ten  commandments  were  sounded  oui, 
stood  as  an  interpreter  amongst  the  people; 
according  to  which,  this  moment  is  to  be  re- 


garded  as  mysterious  in  the  highest  degree. — 
The  ten  commandments  as  the  ten  words  (of  the 
Spirit,  angelic  words).  As  the  ten  fundamental 
doctrines  of  heavenly  wisdom.  The  ten  words 
as  the  ten  commandments  of  God  :  ten  rocks  of 
the  earth,  ten  lightnings  of  heaven. — As  the  ten 
thunders  which  resound  through  all  spaces  and 
times.  As  the  testimonies  of  God  in  behalf  of 
the  dignity  and  high  destiny  of  man,  but  also  as 
the  testimonies  against  his  sin.  As  the  testimo- 
nies both  of  his  (formal)  freedom  and  his  (mate- 
rial) bondage.*  As  characteristic  features  of 
personality. 

2.  Outline  of  the  Sacrificial  Riles.  Chapter  xx. 
18-26. 
The  enslaved  feelings  of  the  people  in  their 
terror  at  the  manifestations  of  the  majesty  and 
justice  of  God,  are,  primarily,  the  source  of 
the  lay  order,  the  desire  for  a  mediator  between 
them  and  God  ;  secondly,  the  source  of  an  out- 
ward sacrificial  system ;  thirdly,  the  source  of  the 
hierarchy.  Fleeing  from  God  and  standing  afar 
off,  in  other  words,  slavish  fear,  makes  laymen. 
"  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear."  And 
the  reason  is:  "lest  we  die."  The  true  priest 
runs  the  hazard  of  dying  as  he  approaches  God. 
Thus  Aaron  stands  with  his  censer  of  incense 
between  the  dead  and  the  living  (Num.  xvi.  48). 
But  the  perfect  high-priest  comes  near  to  God 
through  the  fiery  flame  of  the  great  judgment 
(Jer.  XXX.  21). — .ilso  the  lay  feeling  looks  on  the 
protective  terrors  of  the  law  as  deterrent  terrors 
(ver.  18).  The  fear  of  death  is,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, wholesome,  but  is  also  a  dangerous  source 
of  a  slavish  disposition  (Heb.  ii.  15). — In  the 
terrors  of  the  law  lies  an  element  of  temptation 
on  account  of  man's  fear  of  death  ;  but  in  them- 
selves these  terrors  are  designed  only  to  test  men 
and  to  fill  them  with  the  pious  fear  of  God  which 
avoids  sin.  Jloses  enters,  as  a  true  mediator  of 
his  people,  into  the  darkness  before  God.  That 
he  is  a  true  priest  without  priestly  dignity,  much 
more  than  Aaron  is,  he  has  shown  by  his  inter- 
cessions. The  same  holds  of  all  true  prophets, 
even  in  the  philosopher's  mantle;  they  have 
more  sacerdotal  worth  than  all  merely  nomin.al 
priests.  Nevertheless  the  enthralled  state  of  the 
people's  heart  necessitates  the  institution  of  sa- 
crifices and  of  priests.  Yet  it  is  strictly  limited. 
First,  the  people  are  never  to  forget  that  Jeho- 
vah has  spoken  with  them  immediately  from 
heaven,  that  He  therefore  may  so  speak  again  in 
the  future,  and  that  therefore  all  mediation  must 
have  for  its  object  this  immediate  intercourse. 
Hence  most  of  all  the  false,  pretended  mediation 
through  idols  must  be  rejected.  Sacrifices,  how- 
ever, are  mediatory.  But  a  simple  altar  of  earth 
is  declared  to  be  sufficient  for  the  sacrificial  ser- 
vice. Extravagance  is  excluded  from  the  sacri- 
ficial rites.  Here,  moreover,  there  is  nothing 
said,  by  way  of  anticipation,  about  sin-offer- 
ings. But  all  places  at  which  Jehovah  manifests 
Himself  as  a  covenant  and  redeeming  God  are 
to  be  sanctuaries.     As  an  enhancement  of  the 


*  [By /ormat freedom  i^  meant  the  natural  ability  to  choose 
between  riglit  and  wroiit;;  h.v  material  (otlierwise  called  by 
German  writers  real)  freedom,  is  meant  the  actual  confor- 
mity of  the  will  to  the  requirements  of  dut.v.  Material  bon- 
daKB  ( Unfreiheit,  "  nnfreedom  ")  therefore  meane  a  state  of 
dialDcUuatloa  to  obey  the  law.— Ib.] 


vaen 

Tbk- 


dignity  of  the  altar,  it  is  allowed  to  be  made  of 
stones,  but  this  permission  is  limited  in  two  par- 
ticulars (vers.  25,  2H).  The  Spirit  of  revelation 
has  foreseen  that  men's  dispositiou  to  make  a 
merit  of  works  may  transform  the  altar,  the  place 
where  God  holds  sway  as  a  Judge  and  a  Saviour, 
into  a  theatrical  stage  for  the  exhibition  of  hu- 
man pomp.  So  unostentatiously  does  the  Levitical 
sacrificial  system  begin,  and  begins  with  the 
assumption  that  the  people  have  long  before  felt 
the  need  of  offering  sacrifices,  and  that  this  feel- 
ing is  to  be  checked  rather  than  increased.  We 
must,  however,  everywhere  distinguish  betv 
the  sacrificial  rites  and  the  priesthood  whil 
Jehovah  takes  under  His  charge,  and  the  barb 
rous  outgrowths  which  have  in  fact  sprung  from 
these  religious  impulses. 

3.  Outline  of  the  Civil  Lata  for  the  Regulation  of  the 
Social  Life  of  the  People.  Chaps,  xxi.-xxiii. 
It  is  a  noticeable  feature  of  this  law  that  it 
begins  with  a  regulation  concerning  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  Hebrew  serf.  While  the  idea  of 
emancipation  is  conditioned  and  limited  by  the 
traditional  customs  and  laws,  yet  it  is  evident 
from  the  first  breath  of  the  law  that  it  breathes 
freedom,  that  freedom  is  its  end  and  aim.  To 
this  corresponds  also  the  heading.  Though  the 
first  verse  may  be  translated,  "  These  are  the 
legal  ordinances,  or  the  punitive  regulations"— 
yet  through  the  whole  section  the  idea  prevails, 
"  These  are  the  rights."  It  is  not  acts  of  injus- 
tice that  are  chiefly  treated  of,  but  rights,  the 
protection  of  human  worth,  the  sanctity  and 
inviolability  of  life,  as  opposed  to  the  assaults  of 
sin  and  unrighteousness.  Thus  then  this  section 
also,  like  the  ethical  law  and  the  ritual  law, 
points  to  the  New  Testament,  the  New  Testa- 
ment freedom. 

a.  Men-servants'  and  maid-servants'  rights  of 
freedom,  xxi.  1-11. 

b.  Inviolability  of  life,  especially  as  relates  to 
regard  for  parents  and  pregnant  women,  vers. 
12-23. 

c.  Inviolability  of  the  body  and  its  members, 
vers.  2-1-27. 

d.  Protection  against  injury  to  life,  to  ser- 
vants, and  even  to  cattle,  caused  by  the  careless- 
ness of  others,  vera.  28-36. 

e.  Protection  of  property  against  theft,  injury 
to  fields,  and  infidelity  to  trusts;  and  the  settle- 
ment of  collisions  and  distinctions  thus  arising, 
xxii.  1-16. 

/.  The  rights  of  a  seduced  virgin,  vers.  16, 17. 

ff.  Maintenance  of  theocratic  morals,  or  pro- 
tection of  the  moral  dignity  of  the  Israelites, 
vers.  18-20. 

h.  Inviolability  of  strangers,  widows,  and  or- 
phans, vers.  21-24. 

i.  Protection  of  the  poor  against  usurers,  vers. 
25-27. 

J.  The  rights  of  magistrates  and'of  the  sanc- 
tuary, vers.  28-30. 

k.  Sanctity  of  the  use  of  flesh  for  food,  ver.  3.. 

/.  Saoredness  of  courts  and  testimony,  even 
to  the  exclusion  of  a  false  philanthropy  towards 
the  poor,  xxiii.  1-3. 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


173 


m.  Self-respect  as  sbown  in  noble-minded  con- 
duct towards  enemies  and  the  poor,  in  the  avoid- 
ance of  fellowship  with  the  persecutors  of  the  in- 
nocent, and  in  abstaining  from  bribery,  and  from 
contempt  for  strangers,  vers.  4-9. 

n.  Sanctity  of  the  theocratic  land,  of  the  Sab- 
bath, of  religious  speech  (avoidance  of  the  names 
of  the  gods),  of  the  three  great  annual  feasts, 
vers.  10-17. 

0.  Preservation  of  the  purity  of  the  sacrificial 
rites,  of  the  harvest,  of  the  eating  of  flesh  (par- 
ticularly by  avoiding  heathenish  luxury,  Uirf.  the 
exegesis),  vers.  18,  19. 

p.  Sacredness  of  the  angel  of  revelation,  or  of 
the  divine  guidance  of  Israel,  vers.  20-22. 

q.  Sacredness  of  the  promised  land.  Strict 
exclusion  of  all  idolatry,  accompanied  by  all 
kinds  of  blessings  from  Jehovah  (abundance  of 
food,  health,  blessing  of  children,  long  life,  dread- 
fulness  and  invincibility  for  enemies),  and  the 
gradual  expulsion,  through  superior  moral  force, 
of  all  enemies,  vers.  23-31. 

r.  Avoidance  of  ruinous  religious  fellowship 
with  the  heathen,  vers.  32,  33. 

These  laws  are  evidently  all  rich  in  religious 
and  moral  lessons  which  can,  when  generalized, 
be  homiletically  appropriated  without  taking 
away  from  them  the  poiutedness  of  the  concrete 
expressions.  Thus,  un  the  basis  of  this  section, 
one  may  speak  of  the  leading  features  of  the  dig- 
nity and  rights  of  man,  of  the  right  of  freedom, 
ami  the  limitations  of  it  (referring  to  Paul's  state- 
ment of  domestic  duties),  and  of  the  inviolability 
of  bodily  life.  Also  of  reverence  for  woman,  the 
protection  of  virgins,  of  carefulness,  of  the  law 
of  moral  distinctions.  It  will  not  be  necessary 
to  call  speci.il  attention  to  all  the  individual  ideas 
of  the  section.  In  the  exegetical  remarks  we 
have  already  observed  that  the  much  misunder- 
stood law  of  retaliation  ("eye  for  eye,"  etc.) 
does  not  here  appear  to  be  dictated  by  a  judi- 
cial demand  for  punishment,  but  by  a  desire 
strongly  to  express  the  inviolability  of  the  dig- 
nity of  man. 

4.  Ratificalion  of  (he  Covenant.     Chap.  xxiv. 

The  legal  covenant  among  the  covenants  be- 
tween Jehovah  and  His  people  (Rom.  ix.4). — The 
common  feature  of  all  covenants.  All  proceed 
from  God  as  institutions  of  free  grace.  All  pre- 
suppose a  voluntary  compliance  on  the  part  of 
men.  In  all  of  them  God's  faithfulness  and 
free  gift  tower  up  above  man's  unfaithfulness 
and  neediness.  But  all  of  them  may,  through 
human  unfaiilifulncsi,  be  invalidated  for  genera- 
tions. All  have  a  peculiar  character  in  reference 
to  the  diviae  promise  and  human  obligation, 
although  the  promise  is  always  God's  word,  and 
the  obligation  assumed  by  man  is  faith.  In  all 
of  them  the  general  object  is  heavenly  salvation, 
but  in  every  covenant  this  object  has  a  special 
form.  The  series  of  successive  covenants  indi- 
cates the  successive  developments  of  revelation, 
or  of  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

a.  The  great  sacredness  of  the  covenant,  indi- 
cated by  the  several  degrees  of  nearness  of  ap- 
proach to  Jehovah,  vers.  1  and  2.  It  is  one 
of  the  lofty  strokes  of  Old  Testament  descrip- 
tion, that  Moses  in  his  approach  to  God  is  made 
to    disappear    from    the    world.       The    priests 


do  not  attain  the  height  of  the  prophet;  they 
must  worship  from  afar,  and  do  not  ascend  one 
step  higher  than  the  seventy  elders,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people.  The  people  who  are 
represented  by  this  Old  Testament  mediation  are 
primarily  represented  by  the  prophetic  media- 
tion of  Moses. 

b.  The  voluntary  assent  of  the  people.  In  the 
church  of  God  there  should  be  no  thought  of  a 
traditional,  or  of  an  enforced,  assent;  none  espe- 
cially of  one  violently  compelled  or  secured  by 
craft.  The  unanimity  of  the  covenant  community 
is  a  beautiful  picture,  but  sonn  darkened. 

c.  The  covenant  agreement,  ver.  4.  Rtligious 
covenants  have  to  do  not  with  merely  vague 
feelings,  but  with  definite  (even  written)  words, 
vows,  and  decisions. 

d.  The  ratification  of  the  covenant,  vers.  4-8. 
The  altar,  with  the  twelve  pillars,  denotes  aa 
expression  of  faith  embracing  the  whole  of  God'a 
people.  Only  young  men,  only  spiritual  youth, 
are  fitted  to  negotiate  a  new  form  of  faith  and 
covenant.  They  begin  their  sacrifices  not  with 
sin-offerings,  for  here  is  nothing  factitious,  but 
with  burnt- offerings  and  peace-offerings, — with 
the  feeling,  "To  God  alone  in  the  highest  be 
honor !"  But  on  the  basis  of  so  sacred  a  covenant 
the  need  of  sin-offerings  will  soon  appear. — The 
covenant  offering  is  spiritualized  by  reading  from 
the  book  of  the  law.  Where  the  intelligible  word 
of  God  is  wanting,  true  sacrifices  also  are  want- 
ing. The  blood  of  the  covenant,  too,  is  effica- 
cious only  when  a  half  of  it  is  sprinkled  on  the 
congregation,  i.  c,  on  their  conscience  (Heb.  x. 
22).  What  else  is  meant  by  the  sprinkling  of 
the  altar  with  the  blood,  than  that  man  promises 
to  Jehovah  a  surrender  of  himself  with  his  pos- 
sessions and  his  blood! 

e.  Feast  of  the  covenant,  vers.  9-11.  A  glo- 
rious type  of  the  New  Testament.  Here  Jloses, 
the  priests,  and  the  elders  are  united.  When 
will  the  time  come  when  the  prophets  and  priests 
and  elders  of  the  church  of  God  are  wholly 
united?  They  ascend  together  to  the  heights  of 
the  mountain:  but  how  high?  A  mystery  of 
blessed  experience  for  G^d's  church!  They  see 
the  God  of  Israel,  and  do  not  die.  Under  His 
feet  is  no  cloud,  no  thunder  and  lightning,  but 
the  crystal-clear,  blue  groundwork  of  God's  abso- 
lute fidelity.  They  do  not  die  from  the  sight  of 
God;  they  eat  and  drink,  they  celebrate  a  sacred 
festive  meal  before  God — a  festival  introductory 
to  the  festivals  of  thousands  of  years. 

/.  The  forty  days  and  forty  nights  which  Moses 
spent  on  the  mountain,  or  the  covenant  writing, 
vers.  12-18.  The  days,  or  hours,  of  the  first  in- 
spir.Ttion  pass  by;  then  begins  the  sacred  work, 
which  is  to  transform  inspiration  into  disposi- 
tion. This  law  of  life  holds  for  the  church  of 
God  in  general,  as  well  as  in  particular.  Moses 
seems  to  have  disappeared  in  the  darkness  of 
the  mountain.  Jesus  seems  to  have  disappeared 
in  the  wilderness,  the  Spirit  of  the  church  in  the 
monasteries,  Luther  on  theWartburg.  Thisisthe 
time  of  trial.  He  labors  on  the  height  of  the  moun- 
tain, in  the  depths  of  prophetic  souls.  Meantime 
Aaron  and  Eur  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  subor- 
dinateofficeatthefootof  Sinai.  But  again  the  top 
of  the  mountain  is  now  concealed,  Moses  seems  to 
be  lost  in  the  cloud,  as  if  in  the  other  world,  and  the 


174 


glory  of  the  Lord  on  the  lop  of  the  mounti 
seems  again  to  the  people  like  a  consuming  fire. 
Meanwhile  Moses,  the  genius  of  the  congrega 
tion.  goes  into  the  midst  of  the  cloud.  But  very 
often  does  the  dangerous  waiting  time  of  forty 
days  and  nights  recur. 

III.  TIk  Idea  {or  Vision)  and  the  Ordinance 
of  the  Tabernacle.  Chaps,  xxv.-xxxi. 

1.   The  Spiritual  and  Elementary  Prerequisites  for 

the  Tabernacle  or  Dwelling-place  of  God. 

Vers.  1-8. 

The  one  fundamental  requisite  is  the  heave- 
offering,  the  contributions  furnished  by  Israel, 
at  Jehovah's  suggestion  indeed,  but  the  free  gift 
of  faith  and  love.  Voluntariness  is  to  be,  and 
continue  to  be,  the  soul  of  the  house  of  God. 

The  material  requisites  represent  all  nature, 
as  the  fundamental  requisite  represents  the  una- 
nimity of  the  congregation. 

The  noblest  materials  from  the  mineral  king- 
dom: gold,  siver,  copper,  precious  stones.  The 
noblest  from  the  vegetable  kingdom :  acacia 
wood,  cotton,  oil,  spices,  incense.  The  noblest 
from  the  animal  kingdom:  costly  skins  and  hair- 
cloths. Thus  the  finest  materials,  together  with 
the  most  beautiful  and  significant  colors,  are  to 
be  used  on  the  building. 

Jehovah  wishes  His  people  to  honor  themselves 
also  by  giving  Him  His  honor  in  a  decent  dwell- 
ing. But  He  also  wishes  to  have  a  dwelling  not 
essentially  better  than  those  of  His  people, 
namely,  provisionally  a  tent  [vid.  2  Sam.  vii. 
7).  It  is  an  extreme,  therefore,  when  a  church 
dishonors  itself  in  its  style  of  wo-ship,  and  gives 
no  indication  that  the  Lord  is  its  -ling;  but  it  is 
also  an  extreme,  when  the  pomp  of  the  worship 
or  of  the  temple  divests  the  Lo  'd  of  His  loving- 
kindness.  For,  that  He  desires  to  dwell  amongst 
His  people  is  another  way  of  saying  that  lie 
wishes  to  exhibit  the  reconciliation  of  His  abso- 
lute majesty  with  His  kind  condescension. 

2.  The  Image  or  Pattern  on  the  Mount.  Ver.  9. 
Here,  where  theocratic  art  most  closely  bor- 
ders on  the  general  idea  of  art,  appears  distinctly 
the  thought  of  the  ideal  image  as  the  real  soul 
of  art.  The  tabernacle  is  to  rest  on  an  ideal: 
this  is  the  idea  of  art.  But  the  ideal  is  one 
given  by  God ;  and  this  is  the  idea  of  sacred  art. 
In  this,  however,  theocratic  .art  is  distinguished 
from  that  of  common  men,  that  it  makes  beauty 
subserve  a  sacred  purpose.  But  the  object  of 
the  tabernacle,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  symbol,  is  to 
serve  as  the  image  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  in 
BO  far  as  it  is  a  type,  it  is  the  seed-kernel  out  of 
which  the  New  Testament  kingdom  of  God  is  to 
grow.  It  is  a  fundamental  law  of  all  religious  ar- 
tistic and  architectural  plans,  that  beautiful  forms 
must  be  blended  with  religious  and  moral  ends. 

3.  The  Organic  Development  of  the  Tabernacle. 
Chaps.  XXV.  10-xxx. 
The  essential  thing,  as  well  as  that  towards 
which  everything  points,  in  tlie  sanctuary,  is 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  symbol  of  the  cove- 
nant, of  the  re-union  of  the  people  with  God,  the 
place  wlicre  Jeliovah  makes  His  abode  and  His 
revelations.     It  has  two  meanings:  it  is  Jeho- 


vah's throne,  but  it  is  also  Israel's  highest  altar. 
From  the  throne  the  movement  is  downwards  to 
the  table  of  shew-bread  and  the  candlestick. 
Corresponding  to  this  direction  of  Jehovah's 
descent  is  the  dwelling,  the  tabernacle  itself,  as 
divided  into  the  holy  place  and  the  Holy  of  ho- 
lies. To  this  descent  of  Jehovah  from  above 
towards  the  people  corresponds  the  move- 
ment of  the  people  from  below  upwards.  Their 
starting-point  is  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
whose  place  was  in  the  court.  From  here  the 
priests  in  the  name  of  the  people  approach 
Jehovah  in  the  symbolic  sacerdotal  garments,  in 
consequence  of  their  consecration.  From  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  they  go  out  with  the  sac- 
rificial blood  and  with  the  incense  into  the  holy 
place  as  far  as  to  the  altar  of  incense.  From 
this  point  only  the  high-priest  can  go  further, 
and  approach  Jehovah  in  the  Holy  of  holies 
with  the  blood  of  atonement  on  the  day  of  atone- 
ment. But  the  movement  of  the  priest  depends 
not  only  on  this  chief  condition,  the  sacrificial 
blood,  but  also,  first,  on  his  filled  hand,  the 
heave-offering  of  the  Lord ;  secondly,  on  the 
priestly  ablution,  and  the  laver  serving  this  end: 
thirdly,  on  the  anointing  of  tlie  sanctuary  and 
of  all  its  utensils,  and  on  the  incense.— Jeho- 
vah's temple,  therefore,  is  a  composite  thing, 
the  place  of  meeting  between  Jehovah  and  His 
people,  ideally  the  residence  of  Jehovah  as  well 
as  of  the  people.  So  also  every  church.  But 
before  everything  else  the  manifestation  of  God 
is  there, — the  foundation  before  any  human  ser- 
vice is  rendered.  So,  in  the  church,  the  sacra- 
ments and  the  word  of  God.  Jehovali  lets  the 
people  feel  His  nearness  by  His  dwelling  in  the 
Holy  of  holies.  Here  is  accomplished  the  sym- 
bolical union  with  the  people  through  the  high- 
priest.  At  the  table  of  shew-bread  is  accom- 
plished the  symbolical  fellowship  or  communion 
of  the  priests  under  the  divine  illumina'iou  of 
the  seven-fold  candlestick. — The  three  altars  in 
the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  their  significance, 
viz.  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  the  altar  of  in- 
cense, the  mercy-seat  over  the  ark. — The  three 
rooms  of  the  sanctuary  and  their  significance: 
the  court,  the  holy  place,  and  the  Holy  of  ho- 
lies.— The  three  sacred  things  in  the  court,  and 
their  significance:  the  laver,  the  mirrors,  and 
the  altar  of  burnt-offering. — The  three  sacred 
things  in  the  holy  place,  and  their  significance: 
the  altar  of  incense,  the  table  of  shew-bread, 
and  the  golden  candlestick. — The  three  sacred 
things  in  the  Holy  of  holies,  and  their  signifi- 
cance:  the  cherubim,  the  ark  of  the  law,  and 
the  mercy-seat. — The  three  acts  of  the  religious 
festivals:  the  offering  up  of  the  most  valuable 
things  in  the  court,  the  surrender  of  the  heart 
at  the  altar  of  incense,  of  prayer,  and  the  pro- 
phetic representation  of  a  surrender  of  the  life, 
of  the  expiatory  blood  for  the  effecting  of  re- 
union with  God  and  of  a  vision  of  God.— The  three 
significations  of  sacrifices :  sacrifices  as  something 
rendered  to  the  laws  of  the  congregation,  sacri- 
fices as  a  symbol  of  the  movement  of  the  heart, 
sacrifices  as  a  type  of  the  future  perfect  sacrifice. 
As  the  cherubim  hover  over  the  ark  of  the  law, 
so  does  God's  dominion  in  the  world  protect  His 
law.  His  law  and  His  Gospel,  the  latter  repre- 
sented by  the  mercy-seat.     The  mercy-seat  de- 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


notes  the  expiation  of  the  law  by  means  of  the 
sacrificial  blood.  The  altar  of  incense  stands 
midway  between  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  and 
the  mercy-seat;  for  prayer,  symbolized  by  the 
incense  (the  sacrifice  of  the  lips),  is  the  living 
soul  of  all  sacrifices. — The  one  general  signifi- 
cance of  the  whole  temple:  the  symbolico-typi- 
cal  arrangement  and  educational  use  of  the  ritual 
for  the  whole  congregation. — As  such  in  all  its 
features  exposed  to  misunderstanding:  as  if  the 
notion  of  a  local  dwelling-place  of  God  excluded 
His  omnipresence,  the  feeling  of  which  alone 
can  give  significance  to  that  notion  (1  Kings  viii. 
27) ;  as  if  the  court  were  designed  to  exclude  those 
who  are  not  Jews,  when  it  is  designed  to  attract 
them  (Isa.  Ivi.  7);  as  if  sacrifices  were  a  meri- 
torious service,  and  not  rather  a  confession  of 
poverty  of  spirit;  as  if  the  priests  were  to  keep 
the  people  far  away  from  Jehovah,  and  not 
rather  train  them  up  for  Him. — The  significance 
of  the  forms  of  the  tabernacle,  of  the  utensils, 
especially  of  the  colors;  vid.  the  Introduction  to 
Kevelation. 

4.  Bezaleel,  the  Religious  Master-Workman. 
Chap.  xxxi. 

The  gift  of  art,  of  artistic  genius,  a  gift  of 
God.  A  gift  of  God  in  the  narrower,  but  also 
in  the  wider  sense. — The  cultivation  of  the  gift 
till  mastery  is  attained.  The  assistants  of  the 
master-workman.  The  artist's  vocation,  akin  to 
that  of  the  priest. — The  law  of  artistic  creation : 
it  must  in  everything  proceed  from  the  funda- 
mental thought  of  the  work,  from  its  end  and 
object,  ver.  7. — The  Sabbath  as  a  condition  of 
the  building  of  the  holy  sanctuary. — Even  the 
most  common  work  is  not  to  be  profaned  through 
the  want  of  the  Sabbath.  Through  the  Sabbath 
all  the  works  of  believers  are  to  acquire  a  festal 
character,  a  Sunday  brightness. 

5.  The  Tables  of  the  Laio.  Ver.  18. 
These  were  not  the  beginning,  but  the  conclu- 
sion, of  the  covenant-transaction.  Their  two- 
sidedness:  of  stone,  and  yet  full  of  myterious 
writings  of  God;  pieces  of  rock,  breaths  of  hea- 
ven; inexorable  demands,  God's  thoughts  of 
peace.  One  law,  and  yet  two  tables,  compre- 
hending all  duties  to  God  and  to  man. — The 
law  a  work  of  God,  a  gift  of  God,  a  testi- 
mony of  God. 

IV.     Tim   Brrwh   of  the    Covenant,  or  the 
Golden  Calf.     Chap,  xxxii. 

In  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
always  found  this  contrast  of  mountain  and 
valley  (Moses  lost,  as  it  were,  on  the 
mountain,  the  rush  for  the  false  worship 
of  the  golden  calf  in  the  valley;  the 
prophets  in  their  visions,  the  people  wavering 
between  apostasy  and  legality;  Christ  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration,  the  disciples  at  their 
wits'  end ;  and  the  scene  of  apparent  defeat  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  Luther  on  the  Wart- 
burg,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Zwickau,  Carlstadt, 
even  Master  Philip  in  the  valley).  Whenever 
the  people  are  making  themselves  a  golden  calf, 
mysterious  things  are  taking  place  on  the  moun- 
15 


tain  between  God  and  His  elect.  Whenever  Moses 
seems  on  the  mountain  to  be  lost  in  God,  the 
people  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  prepare  for 
themselves  a  golden  calf. — -He  delayed  on  the 
mountain:  things  do  not  move  fast  enough  for 
the  spiritually  sluggish  people.  "  Make  us  gods," 
images  of  God.  Apostasy  always  begins  with  the 
religious  worship  of  images;  it  is  the  first  step 
on  the  downward  road  of  apostasy.  Therefore, 
also,  the  second  commandment  must  continue  to 
be  distinct  from  the  first.  According  to  Rom.  i., 
moreover,  idolatry  results  from  the  downward  ten- 
dency of  the  use  of  symbols.  This  does  not  im- 
ply the  prohibition  of  everything  symbolic  in  re- 
ligion, but  it  does  show  that  it  should  be  pul^ 
under  the  control  of  God's  Spirit.  But  from  the 
earliest  times  pictorial  representations  of  God, 
as  well  as  the  religious  veneration  of  sacred  images 
in  general,  have  led  to  idolatry. — "  For  we  know 
not."  They  wish  to  know  when  they  ought  to 
believe;  hence  they  fall  a  prey  to  a  superstitious 
belief  when  they  ought  to  know.  Weak  priests 
have  always  been  inclined  to  help  a  sensuous 
people  in  their  tendency  to  image-worship. — The 
priest  in  vain  seeks  to  suppress  the  demands  of 
the  people  by  the  crafty  policy  of  requiring  great 
sacrifices.  Bad  priests  increase  these  require, 
ments  of  offerings  of  gold  and  silver  and  pennies 
till  they  become  enormous,  and  the  darkened 
spirits  of  the  people  acquiesce  in  the  extremest 
demands  made  upon  them.  Weak  priests  ima- 
gine that  in  the  requirements  of  offerings  they 
impose  a  restraint  on  the  idolatrous  propensity. 
Faithful  priests  sacrifice  themselves  in  heroic 
resistance;  but  they  are  rare.  Sensuous  men 
will  make  contributions  to  false  systems  of  wor- 
ship a  thousand  times  rather  than  to  a  true  one. 
The  golden  calf  grows  out  of  the  memories  of 
Egyptian  heathenism.  The  Israelites,  it  is  true, 
do  not  intend,  like  the  Egyptians,  to  worship  the 
image  of  the  ox,  but  only  to  have  in  it  a  symbol 
of  Jehovah.  Immediately,  however,  they  cry  out, 
"  These  are  thy  gods,"  not,  "  That  is  a  symbol  of 
thy  God."  Aaron,  on  the  other  hand,  calls  out 
and  proclaims  a  feast  of  Jehovah.  So  in  a  degene- 
rate religion  that  craves  images  there  are  always 
two  opinions  and  two  religions:  the  theologian 
talks  in  one  way;  the  people  talk  in  another.  In 
this  worship,  as  in  heathenism,  chief  emphasis 
is  given  to  the  worldly  carousal  which  follows 
the  religious  ceremonies  :  eating,  drinking,  dan- 
cing, etc. — Jehovah's  utterance  respecting  this 
unseemly  conduct  is,  "  Thy  people  have  cor- 
rupted." Corrupted  what  ?  Nothing  less  than 
everything.  "  Thy  people,"  not  "My  people." 
Jehovah  does  not  recognize  Himself  in  the  object 
of  the  image-worship,  ver.  8.  God's  judgment 
on  the  people  after  this  seemingly  very  religious 

festival,  ver.  9.      "Let  me  alone, that  I 

may  consume  them."  This  is  the  normal  conse- 
quence of  the  carnal  transformation  of  religion 
into  outward  forms:  if  the  people  are  not  soon 
enough  healed  of  it,  they  must  infallibly  go  to 
ruin  religiously,  morally,  and  physically.—"  I 
will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation."  The  value  of 
a  people  consists  in  their  choice  men,  those  that 
are  faithful  to  God;  and  it  is  natural  to  think  of 
a  holy  race  of  elite  men.  But  mercy  rejoiceth 
against  (glorieth  over)  judgment. — In  Moses' 
intercession  the  true  priest  appears.    Moses  (like 


Abraham  andjiidah)  in  his  intercession,  a  type  of 
Christ.  Analysis  of  Moses' intercession.  "Jeho- 
vah repented,"  i.  e.,  through  Moses'  iateroession 
the  situation  had  been  essentially  altered.  In 
human  repentance  is  mirrored  a  seeming  change- 
ablenesa  in  the  unchangeable  God. — Moses'  de- 
scent from  the  mount  compared  with  the  subse- 
quent descent,  chap,  xxxiv.  Here  Moses  is  sad, 
whilst  the  people  below  are  jubilant ;  there  he  de- 
scends with  radiant  face  to  the  mourning  people. — 
The  tumult  of  the  people,  and  the  two  iuterpreta- 
tations  of  it,  that  of  Joshua  versed  in  war,  and  that 
of  his  master  versed  in  the  workings  of  men's 
hearts. — Moses'  anger,  and  the  expressions  of  it. 
First,  the  breaking  of  the  tables.  For  such  a 
people,  so  fallen  away,  God's  revelation  has  no 
more  value.  Next,  the  destruction  of  the  golden 
calf  Rather  no  religion,  if  possible,  than  such 
a  caricature!  From  this  negation  a  new  life 
must  proceed. — Aaron's  miserable  excuse.  The 
miserable  excuses  of  weak  priests. — Lastly,  the 
great  punitive  infliction,  ver.  25  sqq.  Its  relative 
necessity  at  that  time,  and  the  spiritual  application 
of  this  fact.  But  only  the  choice  part  of  the 
congregation  can  punish  the  congregation.  And 
the  punishment  continues  to  be  sacred  only 
through  repeated  intercession  before  God, — 
Moses'  offer,  ver.  32,  and  Jehovah's  answer. 
Suffering  in  beh.alf  of  others  is  conditioned  on  the 
hope  of  their  fellow-suffering.  Forgiveness  con- 
ditioned on  a  previous  visitation. 

V.  The  Modified  Restoration  of  the  Covenant. 
Chaps,  xxxiii.,  xxxiv. 
The  Israelites  must  break  camp  and  wander, 
in  order  in  the  future  to  find  again  their  salva- 
tion, to  reach  the  promised  land.  So  Chris- 
tians must  break  loose  from  the  world  and  wan- 
der, in  order  to  gain  the  new  Paradise  (home — 
native  land).  So  Adam  and  Eve  had  to  enter  on 
their  long  pilgrimage.  So  Abraham  (and  the 
patriarchs  generally).  So  the  Christians  from 
Jerusalem.  So  the  church  from  the  East  to  the 
West.  So  the  Reformiition.  And  so  faith  again 
and  again.  God's  summons  to  Israel  was  a  so- 
lemn token  of  grace.  (1)  The  promise  of  Ca- 
naan was  thus  renewed.  But  (2)  indication  was 
given  of  God's  future  visitations  destined  to 
atteml  their  course.  So  the  man  of  faith  must 
wander  in  order  to  be  refined,  but  also  in  order 
to  be  perfected. — The  three  great  chastisements 
inflicted  on  the  fallen  Israelites. — Moses'  three 
great  intercessions,  and  the  answer  to  them. — 
Jehovah's  three  great  tokens  of  grace. 

1.  The  Chastisements.  Vers.  1-11. 
a.  The  greatest  and  severest.  The  Israelites 
must  go  to  Canaan  without  Jehovah's  going  in 
the  midst  of  them.  b.  They  must  for  a  season 
lay  off  their  ornaments,  c.  The  preliminary 
tabernacle,  Moses'  tent,  is  moved  out  of  the  camp, 
BO  that  the  people  seem  to  be  put  under  a  sort  of 
ban  (of  tlie  first  degree). — Because  they  wished 
to  see  Ood  with  the  eyes  of  sense  in  the  golden 
calf,  they  are  now  made  dependent  on  the  gui- 
dance of  the  angel  of  God's  face,  the  visions  of 
His  prophet.  Because  they  wasted  the  splendor 
of  their  golden  ornaments  on  image-worship, 


they  must  no  longer  appear  before  Jehovah  even 
with  simple  decorations.  Because  they  wished 
arbitrarily  to  institute  their  own  form  of  divine 
service,  they  must  now  look  from  afar,  with  awe 
and  longing,  towards  the  tabernacle  of  God. — 
The  impression  of  the  declaration  of  God,  "  I  will 
not  go  up  in  the  midst  of  thee:"  (1)  The  people 
dimly  felt  that  it  was  an  evil  announcement,  a 
punishment  for  their  guilt.  (2)  Wherein  lay  the 
punishment?  In  God's  refusal  to  go  with  them 
in  the  relation  of  immediate  spiritual  fellowship. 
"  Thy  religion,"  He  says,  "  cannot  yet  be  a  re- 
ligion of  the  Spirit,  for  thou  art  a  stiff-necked 
people,"  i.  e.,  intractable  and  refractory  towards 
the  easy  yoke  of  the  word,  of  the  spirit,  of  love. 
(3)  And  yet  there  was  clemency  iu  the  punish- 
ment. The  spiritual  condition  of  the  people  of 
God  was  such  that  they  could  be  led  only  by  the 
angel  of  God's  face  in  the  form  of  the  law 
.and  the  divine  tokens  received  through  the 
media  of  visions.  An  immediate  and  unlim- 
ited manifestation  of  God  would  have  scattered 
and  annihilated  the  people.  Even  at  the  Chris- 
tian Pentecost  the  religion  of  the  Spirit  involved 
the  people  in  the  danger  of  ruin.  So  also  many 
Christian  nations  have  remained  for  a  long  time 
shut  up  under  the  guidance  of  visions,  and  they, 
too,  not  without  positive  fault  on  their  own  part. 
So  also  to  many  Protestants  a  spiritual  religion 
has  become  dangerous. — The  sentence  requiring 
ornaments  to  be  laid  aside  seems  to  have  been 
suspended  when  Aaron  was  clothed  with  the  sa- 
cerdotal ornaments.  So  also  the  ban  of  the 
provisional  tabernacle  seems  to  have  ceased  with 
the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  proper.  The  pious 
and  humble  deportment  of  the  people  under  chas- 
tisement is  an  indication  of  their  re-adoplion«— 
The  reconciliation  of  the  three  utterances,  "  My 
face  shall  go  with  thee;"  "Jehovah  talked  with 
Jloses  face  to  face;"  "Thou  canst  not  see  my 
face,"  ver.  20. — In  the  first  case  the  face  is  the 
angel  of  the  face,  the  vision  form  {TTo^vrpdirac). 
In  the  second  case,  the  distinctness,  comprehensible- 
ness,  and  familiarity  of  God's  words  {■n-olvfiepH;). 
In  the  third  case  the  real  beholding  of  the  divine 
glory  is  meant  {vid.  the  exegesis). — Joshua,  the 
faithful  guardian  of  the  sanctuary. 

2.   Moses'   three  new  great  intercessory  Petitions. 
Vers.  13-23. 

The  first  petition:  "Show  me  thy  way,"  etc. 
Also  iu  behalf  of  Jehovah's  people.  Answer: 
My  face,  as  guide  to  the  way,  shall  be  the  living 
way  (John  xiv.  6). — Second  petition:  Make  it 
evident  that  Thou  Thyself  art  going  with  us, 
when  Thy  face  guides  us  before  all  the  world  by 
distinguishing  signs.  Answer:  Divine  assent  on 
the  ground  of  Moses'  intercession  and  accepta- 
hleness. — Third  petition :  Let  me  see  Thy  glory. 
The  divine  answer:  Conditional  assent  (vid.  the 
exegesis).  Observe  the  refusal  in  the  assent, 
and  the  assent  in  the  refusal  (Gethsemane  ?). 
The  old  saying:  Man  cannot  see  God  without 
dying,  (1)  true  in  the  sense  of  divine  revelation ; 
(2)  always  false  as  conceived  by  the  popular  su- 
perstition. Only  by  this  dying  of  the  natural 
man  under  the  sight  of  God  does  man  come  to 
the  true  life  — Observe  how  God's  answers  make 
the  human  petitioner  bolder  aud  bolder-  how, 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


nevertheless,  even  the  boldness  of  the  human 
petition  is  continually  controlled  by  divine  wis- 
dom— and  that,  for  the  petitioner's  own  good. — 
The  believer  stands  on  the  rook — even  in  the 
protecting  cleft  of  the  rock  close  to  God,  and  sees 
all  His  goodness  pass  by.  Not  in  one  single 
view,  but  piece  by  piece,  does  the  believer  behold 
the  glory  of  the  Lord.  Even  the  faint  impres- 
sion of  the  manifestation  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  sphere  of  our  life's  vision  might  overpower 
aud  kill  us,  if  Jehovah  did  not  place  us  in  a  cleft 
of  a  rock  and  hold  His  hand  over  us  (the  rock- 
clefts  of  joyous  youth — of  dark  night — of  civil 
security — of  childlike  freedom  from  care,  etc.).— 
The  great  afterward.  The  sequel  of  experience, 
of  the  hour  of  death,  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
Not  till  the  evening  of  the  world  do  all  the  pe- 
riods of  the  world  back  to  its  morning  come  truly 
to  light.     "At  evening  time  it  shall  be  light." 

3.  The  Ttiree  great  Transformations  of  Anger  to 
Grace.  Chap,  xxxiv.  1-35. 
a.  The  gift  of  new  tables  of  the  law,  in  connec- 
tion with  which  Moses'  co-operation  is  more 
positively  brought  out.  b.  Sinai  glorified  by 
Jehovah's  proclamation  of  Jehovah's  grace,  c. 
Moses'  shining  face  upon  his  return  from  the 
mountain  with  the  new  tables  of  the  law. — The 
new  tables  of  the  law  in  their  relation  to  the 
first.  (1)  They  are  as  to  contents  entirely  like 
the  first,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  in  the  mean- 
time. (2)  They  are  not  like  the  first  in  their 
relation,  for  they  presuppose  the  apostasy  that 
has  taken  place.  Hence  they  are  supplemented 
by  the  proclamation  of  grace. — Jehovah's  grand 
proclamation  of  Jehovah's  grace.  Jehovah  pro- 
claimed not  only  His  law  from  Sinai,  but  also 
His  grace.  The  history  of  this  fact  is  an  eter- 
nal testimony  against  all  distortions  of  the  Old 
Testament  Jehovah,  of  the  law,  of  Sinai.  Like- 
wise the  erroneous  notion  of  many  favorably  in- 
clined to  the  church  and  to  Christianity,  that 
Sinai  and  the  law  proclaimed  only  a  curse,  is 
corrected  in  this  history.  True,  this  grand  pro- 
clamation of  grace  does  not  annul  the  law,  jus- 
tice, and  judgment,  but  it  puts  this  revelation  of 
God's  severity  in  the  right  light. — The  two  parts 
of  the  grand  proclamation  of  Jehovah  from  Sinai. 
The  first  part,  concerning  Jehovah's  mildness: 
merciful,  gracious,  long-suffering,  etc.  The  se- 
cond part,  concerning  His  severity:  He  lets  no 
one  go  unpunished  (and  so.  nothing  unpunished), 
and  visits  the  misdeed  of  fathers  upon  children 
and  children's  children,  etc.  (vid.  chap.  xx.). — • 
The  threefold  expression  for  the  forgiveness  of 
sin:  He  forgives  iniquity  (perverseness),  trans- 
gression (apostasy,  desertion),  and  sin  (failure). 
— The  surprise  of  the  lawgiver,  to  whom  at  this 
moment  Sinai  has  become  a  throne  of  grace ;  and 
his  humble  prostration  and  adoration.  Compare 
Elijah's  gesture,  when  Jehovah  passed  by  him 
with  a  still,  small  voice  (1  Kings  xix.).  After  this 
experience  Moses  comes  back  once  more  to  his  pe- 
tition, "  Jehovah,  go  with  us,  in  the  midst  of  us.  " 
Jehovah's  reason  for  not  doing  so,  viz.,  that  He 
cannot  go  in  the  midst  of  them  because  they  are 
a  stiff-necked  people,  Moses  reverses:  just  be- 
cause they  are  stiff-necked,  he  prays  Jehovah  to 
go  with  them.     He  almost  forgeta  for  awhile 


Jehovah's  character  as  lawgiver  under  the  im- 
pression of  the  proclamation  of  grace,  as  was  also 
the  case  with  many  at  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  as  is  still  often  the  case,  when  there  is 
a  deficiency  of  spirituality.  But  Jehovah,  while 
denying  the  request,  offers  a  rich  compensation. 
Instead  of  the  quiet  religion  of  the  spirit,  which 
cannot  yet  come,  they  are  to  be  distinguished  by 
a  grand  religion  of  miracles  (which  is  a  prere- 
quisite of  the  future  religion  of  the  spirit,  in  no 
sense  a  contradiction  of  it).  But  the  greatness 
of  this  promise  is  limited  by  the  demands  on 
whioh  the  theocratic  covenant  is  founded,  vers. 
11-26  [vid.  the  exegesis). — In  conclusion  it  is 
said,  "  Write  thou  these  words;"  for  every  cove- 
nant  with  God,  especially  this  one,  is  a  very 
definite  thing. — Moses'  marvellously  exalted  mood 
on  the  mountain.  The  forty  days  and  nights,  which 
are  fast-d.ays  only  because  they  are  feast-days 
(vid.  Comm.  on  Matt.  iv.). — Again  ten  words.  The 
law  infinitely  simple,  but  in  its  very  simplicity  in. 
finitely  profound. — The  glorious  picture  of  Moses 
descending  from  the  mount.  Comparison  of  this 
with  the  first  descent.  The  situation  is  changed  in 
two  respects:  the  people  have  repented, and  Jeho- 
vah has  proclaimed  His  grace  (at  the  first  descent 
be  may  have  had,  to  speak  dogmatically,  the 
usus  primus  of  the  law  in  mind;  at  this  descent 
there  was  a  presentiment  of  the  usus  tertius;  ths 
KsuiSfcunrfus  he  probably  had  in  mind  both  times). 
He  did  not  know  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone. 
The  effect  of  his  shining  face,  ver.  30sqq.  For 
the  people  this  reflection  of  Moses'  intercourse 
with  Jehovah  seemed  almost  more  punitive  than 
the  gloomy  expressions  of  the  law.  For  the 
common  people  and  for  rude  sensibilities  in  all 
classes  this  is  still  the  case;  monastic  rules 
rather  than  evangelical  joy  (comp.  2  Cor.  iii.). 
With  such  a  radiant  face  should  preachers  espe- 
cially descend  from  the  pulpit.  But  how  many 
afterwards  appear  as  if  they  had  spoken  in  a 
state  of  somnambulism  or  a  factitious  ecstasy. 
But  with  all  the  faithful  the  feeling  always  is, 
"How  lovely  are  the  feet,"  even  the  feet,  still 
more  the  peaceful  splendor  on  the  countenance. 

\l.    The  Erection  of  the  Tabernacle. 
Chaps,  xxxv.-xl. 

The  erection  of  the  tabernacle  pre-supposes 
the  restoration  of  the  covenant  between  Jehovah 
and  His  people,  and  therefore  the  integrity  of 
the  theocratic  religion.  This  prerequisite  is  in 
substance  fulfilled  at  every  erection  of  a  house 
of  God.  But  there  are  splendid  temples  whioh 
m  a  true  sense  founded  on  the  decay  and 
disfiguration  of  religion ;  and  the  tendency  to 
such  establishments  appears  also  in  our  own 
time. — The  three  parts  of  the  tabernacle  have  a 
permanent  significance:  the  court  is  continued 
in  the  room  for  catechetical  instruction,  in  bap- 
tism and  confirmation;  the  holy  place  is  repre- 
sented by  the  nave  and  the  sermon;  the  Holy  of 
holies  by  the  mystery  of  the  choir.  The  medise- 
val  church  sought  to  shut  off  the  choir  again,  as 
if  it  were  an  Old  Testament  Holy  of  holies; 
modern  Protestantism  tends  to  reduce  the  choir 
0  a  mere  part  of  the  nave  and  to  abolish  church 
discipline  and  the  distinction  between  auditors 
and  communicants. — The  sacred  forms  eymbo- 


lize  the  legal  ordinances  of  the  kingdom  of  God ; 
the  sacred  colors  symbolize  the  moods  and  cha- 
racters which  animate  that  kingdom  (blue^ 
fidelity,  purple=royal  splendor,  scarlet=blood 
and  devotion,  white^purity  and  righteousness). 
On  the  constituent  parts  of  the  temple,  vid.  the 
exegesis.  As  the  tabernacle  became  a  temple, 
so  ought  the  temple  in  the  New  Testamenl  times 
to  become  again  a  simple  tabernacle  (Amos  ix. 
11,  12). — The  tabernacle  as  the  original  form 
and  mother  of  all  true  temples,  churches,  cha- 
pels, and  houses  of  prayer.  All  golden  things 
denote  that  which  ia  pure,  permanent,  eternal; 
all  silver  things,  that  which  is  valuable  and 
glittering  to  human  view;  all  brazen  things, 
that  which  is  strong  and  durable. 

1.  The  Sabbath  as  the  prime  requisite  of  all  festi- 
vals, all  religious  fellows/tip,  all  houses  of  Ood. 
Without  the  Sabbath,  no  church.  Ch.  xxxv.  1-3. 

2.  Voluntariness,  especially  the  voluntary  of- 
ferings and  co-operation  of  all,  is  the  basis  on 
which  the  house  and  service  of  God  are  founded. 
Vers.  -1-20. 

3.  Consecrated  art  in  the  service  of  religion,  vers. 
30-35.  It  is  not  itself  religion.  Nor  does  it 
domineer  over  religion.  But  it  is  also  not  di- 
vorced from  religion,  least  of  all  hostile  to  it. 
Immoral  painting,  music,  poetry:  the  most  odi- 
ous mockery  of  true  art.  True  art  with  its 
works,  a  great  gift  of  God. 

The  noble  industry  of  the  laborers  on  the 
house  of  God,  xxxvi.  1-7.  "The  people  bring 
too  much,"  a  censure,  and  yet  a  praise. 

4.  The  preparation  of  the  dwelling,  vers.  8—38. 
According  to  the  divine  idea,  the  ark  was  the 
first  thing,  the  dwelling  the  last.  In  the  human 
execution  of  it,  the  dwelling  takes  precedence. 

5.  The  ark,  xxxvii.  1-9.  The  staves  of  the 
ark:  the  ark  is  transportable,  it  is  not  abso- 
lutely fixed  to  any  place.  The  cherubim,  which 
protect  the  law,  represent  the  fundamental  forms 
of  God's  sovereign  rule  (are  certainly  not  repre- 
sentative forms  of  terrestrial  creatures).  The 
cherubim  hold  sway  over  not  only  the  law,  but 
especially  also  the  mercy-seat  (the  Gospel). 

6.  The  table,  vers.  10-16.  A  table  for  hea- 
venly food  (certainly  not  for  human  works). 

7.  The  candlestick,  vers.  17-24.  The  spiritual 
flower  of  earth  adorned  with  the  spiritual  stars 
of  heaven. 

8.  The  altar  of  incense,  vers.  25-28.  In  prayer 
the  heart  is  dissolved,  as  it  were,  through  sighs, 
renunciations,  vows,  home-sickness,  and  tears, 
into  a  cloud  of  smoke  ascending  to  God. 

9.  The  anointing  oil,  ver.  29.  Symbol  of  the 
Spirit,  mild,  soft  and  healing;  burning,  con- 
suming, refining.  Designed  for  the  anointing 
of  all  the  objects  in  the  sanctuary,  since  every- 
thing is  to  be  consecrated  to  the  Spirit. 

10.  The  nltuT  of  burnt-offering,  xxxviii.  1-7. 
The  place  where  the  fire  of  the  divine  authority 
consumes  human  oiferings  is  a  holy  place.  But 
it  is  a  wild  notion  that  it  signifies  the  fire  of 
hell,  or  perchance  the  fires  of  the  Inquisition. 
Rather  might  we  invert  the  thing,  and  see  even 
in  the  fire  of  hell  a  work  of  divine  compassion ; 
yet  we  are  not  to  obliterate  the  distinction:  fire 
of  the  loving,  and  fire  of  the  judicial,  visitation. 

1 1 .  The  laver,  and  the  mirrors  of  the  women  on  its 
base,  xxxviii.  8.     The  priests,  like  the  women, 


should  present  themselves  in  a  worthy  manner 
before  God;  these  purified  from  the  dust  of 
worldliness,  those  adorned  with  a  consecration 
which  can  appear  before  the  eyes  of  God. 

12.  The  court,  vers.  9-20.  The  court  is  larger 
than  the  sanctuary;  it  embraces  the  whole.  But 
fanaticism  recognizes  only  fanum  and  profanum, 
no  intermediate  transitional  space;  yet  it  deems 
itself  able  violently  to  extend  its  fanum  over  all 
space,  and  conceives  that  it  transtorms  the  court 
itself  into  a,  fanum.  by  its  market  for  sacrifices. 

13.  The  estimation  of  the  expenses  of  the  sanctuary, 
vers.  21-31.  Church-property,  church-taxes, 
church-accounts,  the  work  of  church-architects, 
should  be  kept  away  from  the  control  of  hierar- 
chical caprice  and  hypocritical  misuse,  and  ex- 
amined and  consecrated  as  if  before  the  eyes  of 
God. 

14.  The  priestly  garments,  xxxix.  1-31. 

15.  The  completion  of  the  zcork,  and  the  presenta- 
tion of  it,  vers.  32-41.  The  joy  over  a  well- 
finished  bouse  of  God.  The  inspiring  event  of  a 
church  founded  without  defects,  and  at  last 
completely  erected.  Not  always  are  churches 
constructed  without  defects  (falling  arches, 
towers  out  of  line,  disproportions).  With  all 
changes  of  forms  the  idea  of  the  sanctuary 
should  always  continue  to  be  the  regulating 
principle.  Yet  the  abund.ince  or  splendor  of  the 
symbolic  element  may  imperil  the  spirituality  of 
worship  itself. 

16.  The  erection  of  the  tabernacle,  and  its  mira- 
culous dedication,  ch.  xl.  Three  particulars  are 
clearly  distinguished:  a.  The  erection  itself,  iu 
connection  with  which  the  date  is  signiiicant: 
on  the  first  day  of  the  first  month  (of  ihe  second 
year).  The  ark  again  takes  precedence  in  the 
order,  and  the  sacerdotal  ornamentation  comes 
last.  A.  The  human  dedication  begins  very 
significantly  with  the  l/urning  of  incense; 
then  follows  the  burnt-offering  with  the  sin- 
offering,  c.  But  the  completion  of  the  dedica- 
tion proceeds  from  Jehovah;  in  symbolic  forms 
He  conies  down  over  and  into  the  dwelling. 
And  this  same  sign,  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire, 
represents  the  life  and  movement  of  the  taber- 
nacle, its  theocratic  dignity  and  sacredness, 
vers.  36-38.  On  the  other  hand,  temples  aban- 
doned by  God  and  the  spirit  of  worship  are  the 
most  desolate  of  houses.  Thus  Christ  designated 
the  temple,  while  it  was  being  re-built,  as  a  tem- 
ple going  io  ruin.  Flourishing  temples  of  the 
heart  make  flourishing  temples ;  and  these  really 
flourish  when  iu  turn  they  make  flourishing 
temples  of  the  heart. 

ADDITIONAL     HOMILETICAL    HINTS    FROM 
STARKE. 

From  the  Preface  to  Exodus. 
The  use  of  this  book  and  of  its  contents  is 
described  by  Dr.  Luther,  in  his  Preface  to  the 
Old  Testament,  as  follows:  There  are  three 
kinds  of  pupils  of  the  law:  (1)  Those  who  hear 
Ihe  law  and  despise  it,  and  lead  a  profligate  life 
without  fear.  To  these  the  law  does  not  come, 
and  they  are  denoted  by  the  calf- worshippers  in 
the  wilderness,  on  whose  account  Moses  broke 
the  tables  in  two,  and  did  not  bring  the  law  to 
them  (ch.  xxxii.  G,   19).     (2)   Those  who  under- 


DOCTRINAL  AND  HOMILETIC  APPENDIX. 


take  to  fulfil  it  with  their  own  strength,  without 
grace.  These  are  denoted  by  those  who  could 
not  look  oa  Mosea'  face  when  he  brought  the 
tables  the  second  time  (xxxiv.  30).  To  these 
the  law  comes,  but  they  cannot  bear  it;  there- 
fore they  put  a  veil  over  it,  and  lead  a  hypocri- 
tical life  with  outward  works  of  the  law,  which 
life,  nevertheless,  is  all  made  sin  by  the  law 
when  the  veil  is  taken  away;  for  the  law  shows 
that  our  power  is  nothing  without  Christ's  grace. 
(3)  Those  who  see  Moses  clearly  without  a  veil. 
These  are  those  who  understand  the  meaning  of 
the  law,  how  it  demands  impossible  things. 
There  sin  walks  in  its  strength ;  there  death  is 
mighty;  there  Goliath's  spear  is  like  a  weaver's 
beam,  and  his  spear's  head  weighs  six  hundred 
shekels  of  iron,  so  that  all  the  children  of  Isriiel 
flee  before  him,  except  that  David  alone,  Christ 

our  Lord,  redeems  us  from  all Hpre  faith 

and  love  must  have  the  mastery  over  all  laws, 
and  hold  them  all  in  their  power. 

The  main  goal  of  this  book  is,  in  general, 
Christ,  who  is  the  man  about  whom  it  all  has  to 
do.  He  is  in  this  book  portr.ayed  before  our 
eyes  by  many  types,  as  e.  g.  by  the  redemption 
out  of  Egypt,  by  the  Passover-lamb,  by  tlie 
manna,  by  the  rock  which  gave  the  water,  by 
the  tabernacle  and  its  many  utensils.  For  all 
these  images  were  to  serve  more  distinctly  to 
image  forth  the  future  character  and  ofiice  of 
the  promised  Redeemer.  It  is  Christ  for  whose 
sake  the  Israelites  enjoyed  so  many  divine  bene- 
fits, were  preserved  during  oppression,  led  out  of 
Egyptian  bondage,  fed  with  manna  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  furnished  with  water  from  the  rock, 
saved  from  ruin,  notwithstanding  their  idolatry, 
and  received  back  into  the  covenant;  the  sanc- 
tuary of  God  was  erected  among  them,  and  their 
frequent  murmuring  and  disobedience  borne  by 
God  with  great  patience  and  long-suffering. 

(From  H.  E.  Rambach.)  In  particular,  the  ob- 
ject of  this  book  is :  (1)  to  exhibit  the  truth  of  the 
divine  promise  of  the  increase  of  Abraham's  seed, 
in  its  fulfilment;  (2)  to  promote  God's  honor, 
which  revealed  itself  in  the  case  of  Pharaoh  by 
frightful  angry  judgments,  in  the  case  of  the 
Israelites,  by  manifold  miracles  in  their  exodus 
from  Egypt,  in  their  preservation  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  at  the  giving  of  the  law:  (3)  to 
strengthen  the  faith  that  God  knows  how  to  save 
His  church  from  complete  suppression  and  to 
deliver  it  from  temptation;  (4)  to  give  an  out- 
line of  the  future  experiences  of  the  church  in 
this  world.  For  why  should  God  have  had  the 
bondage  and  oppression  of  the  Israelites  in 
Egypt,  their  redemption  from  it,  and  their  being 
led  in  the  wilderness,  so  particularly  described, 
and  the  tabernacle  with  its  instruments  and  ves- 
sels even  twice  described,  except  in  order  the 
more  distinctly  to  portray  Christ's  work  of  re- 
demption, and  the  redemption  and  guidance  of 
His  church  in  general,  and  of  a  soul  in  particu- 
lar, out  of  the  spiritual  Egypt?  For  the  church 
of  the  New  Testament  after  Christ's  death  first 
had  rest,  and  was  edified,  and  multiplied  greatly 
(Acts  ix.  31),  like  the  Israelites  after  the  death 
of  Joseph.     Thereby  it  came  into  a  state  of  op- 


pression, and  had  to  endure  ten  persecutions ; 
when  it  had  been  refined  thereby,  and  cried  for 
deliverance,  it  was  delivered  in  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  saw  its  enemies  overthrown, 
and  itself  exalted,  was  refreshed  with  manna, 
the  bread  and  water  of  life.  But  in  its  prosper- 
ous days  it  did  not  long  remain  pure  in  its  doc- 
trine, lapsed  finally  even  inlo  idolatry  and  ordi- 
nances of  men,  till  God  by  the  Reformation 
destroyed  such  idolatry,  and  the  pure  doctrine 
and  the  true  divine  service  was  erected  as  the 
proper  sanctuary  of  God.  ...  So  it  is  with  a  soul 
which  lives  at  first  in  outward  rest  and  peace :  but 
if  God  begins  mightily  to  call  it  out  of  the  domi- 
nion of  sin  and  of  Satan,  then  Satan  begins  to 
rage  and  to  oppress  more  violently. 

Oa  i.  11  (from  the  Hallische  BilUsche  Ges- 
chichte).  Egypt  had  heretofore  been  a  good 
refuge ;  now  it  became  to  ihem  a  prison ;  and 
they  at  last  perceived  what  their  forefathers 
had  brought  on  them  in  selling  Joseph  into 
Egypt  as  a  slave:  they  themselves  are  there 
made  slaves.  Those  who  before  had  been  honored 
as  lords  are  now  despised  as  slaves ;  those  whom 
one  Pharaoh  raised  up  the  other  sought  to  op- 
press. They  were  divided  into  certain  gangs: 
over  ten  Israelites,  as  it  seems,  was  put  an  Is- 
raelitish  ofEcer,  and  over  ten  such  officers  an 
Egyptian  task-master.  The  Israelitish  officer 
had  to  control  his  gang,  keep  them  at  work, 
daily  secure  the  required  amount  of  work  and 
tale  of  bricks,  and  deliver  it  over  with  the  reck- 
oning to  the  Egyptian  task-master,  or  be  re- 
sponsible for  it  (chap.  v.  14).  At  first  they 
must  have  had  to  pay  heavy  taxes  in  mo- 
ney, and  after  they  were  impoverished,  they 
had  to  do  servile  labor. — Pithom*  was  the  name 
of  a  monstrous  serpent  which  came  forth  out  of 
the  marshy  morass  of  the  Nile,  and  wrought 
great  destruction  of  men  and  beasts.  This  city 
(Raemses)  is  said  to  be  the  same  as  was  after- 
wards called,  and  known  in  ancient  geography, 
as  Pelusium.  According  to  some,  the  new  Egyp- 
tian king  was  named  Raemses,  and  gave  his  name 
to  the  city.  Whether  this  city  was  newly  built, 
or  enlarged,  or  only  fortified,  cannot  certainly 
be  said.  The  taxes  and  the  servile  labor  were 
employed  in  so  preparing  the  two  cities  that  in 
case  of  need  there  might  be  kept  in  them  the 
treasures  of  the  kingdom,  the  armory,  and  a 
strong  garrison.  And  because  both  cities  Lay 
in  the  land  of  Goshen  where  the  Israelites  dwelt, 
these  two  strongholds  were  built  against  the 
Israelites  themselves,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  the  better  kept  under  and  retained  in  the 
land.  It  was  praiseworthy  indeed  in  the  peo- 
ple, that,  whereas  they  were  under  so  great  and 
almost  intolerable  oppression,  and  at  the  same 
time  were  almost  superior  to  the  Egyptians  in 
number,  and  hence  might  have  risen  up  in  arms 
and  freed  themselves,  or  at  least  have  gone 
away  armed,  they  did  no  such  thing,  but  under 
the  government  of  God,  who  had  destined  for 
them  an  extraordinary  redemption,  calmly  en- 
dured all  their  trouble. 


THE  END. 


DATE  DUE 

S«#>-««*^* 

.^■* 

. 

t^^ 

-OtfiAA^a 

&^ 

• 

^^^TO 

^H 

O.V.OHO 

P„,.,.n,«„.s.-. 

1B4B2YH1077J 

07-10-03  32180      MC    F 


